EDITORIAL: Election in Britain

The argument had been that a two-party system with both parties capable of taking charge was the key to improving democracy in Japan, and Britain was always held up as an example. For those who felt that with last summer's Lower House election Japan finally managed to gain equal footing with Britain, the current situation in that country might be a bit perplexing.

However, when one looks homeward, public trust in our two parties--the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party--seems ambivalent. Even despite the different situations in Britain and Japan, we cannot afford to overlook the goings-on in a country where its two-party system is being tested, as we consider the future of Japan's own democracy.

A general election will be held May 6 in Britain. The focus is on whether there will be a change of government for the first time in 13 years. However, according to opinion polls, it looks like neither the ruling Labor Party nor the opposition Conservative Party is likely to win an outright majority. Instead, the third party, the Liberal Democrats are gaining ground.

The two-party system in Britain with its simple single-seat constituencies has made it possible for the postwar government to repeatedly change hands between Labor and Conservative. But Britain is now experiencing a crisis in the two-party system. Why?

The system was valid when the party platforms had easy-to-understand differences of "right" and "left," and people were able to identify with one or the other.

However, once the Cold War ended and economic globalization advanced, in many countries the major parties all moved toward the center. This is because the scope of policy options narrowed.

In Britain, many were dismayed when the Conservative Party supported Tony Blair's Labor government's decision to enter the Iraq War. An expense scandal in Parliament also exacerbated this loss of faith. That helped raise the Liberal Democrats' popularity.

Japan did not have a full-fledged change of power for more than half a century. The two-party system was touted as a means to upend the LDP's long domination of politics, and in order to make that possible, the election system was changed about 15 years ago. Finally, the government changed hands.

The arrival of an age where we do have a change of power is great progress. Despite deep misgivings about the current status of the Hatoyama administration as well as the LDP, surely many people still approve of the system itself where, if the ruling party loses public trust, then the other major party takes its place.

But Japan is not immune from the challenges of this age that is rocking the two-party system in Britain. Are the DPJ and the LDP sufficiently attending to the will of the people? Are they steering this country so that Japan is in concert with the changes of the world? If the parties turn their backs on these agendas and pursue pork-barrel politics only to win elections, then the sell-by date of the present system might come surprisingly soon.

It is possible that a government would function better if a major party forms a coalition with a party that does not get swept away by political calculations, and possesses a firm philosophy and world view.

It is difficult to imagine such a situation arising in Japan soon. The recent fuss over new political parties is a tell-tale sign. It is true that Japan has neither that kind of tradition nor the reservoir of talent. However, the questions that Britain's election raises are not to be taken lightly by Nagatacho.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 17