Edano announces bid for DP leadership

July 30, 2017

SAITAMA- Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced Saturday his willingness to run in the election to choose the successor to Renho, who has offered to resign as president of the main Japanese opposition Democratic Party. "I've come to a conclusion that it's the most appropriate way for me to become the leader of the party to put what I want to do into action," Edano, 53, said in a speech in the city of Saitama, north of Tokyo. Edano will likely be among major candidates in the DP leadership race, together with former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, 55, who appears to be making preparations to run in the party contest, according to informed sources. In the speech, Edano expressed his resolve to make all-out efforts to rebuild the party, which faces a fall in public support. Edano, a lawyer, obtained a seat on the Diet, Japan's parliament, for the first time in the 1993 election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, on a ticket of the now-defunct Japan New Party. He was then returned to the Lower House seven times. He served as chief cabinet secretary in January-September 2011 and minister of economy, trade and industry from September 2011 to December 2012, while the Democratic Party of Japan, one of the two predecessors of the DP, was in power between 2009 and 2012. Edano is mainly supported by liberal members of the DP. Edano is positive about cooperation with other opposition parties. "I'm ready to make concessions where possible to those who support us, in areas other than our key policies," he said. As Maehara is cautious about the DP joining forces with the Japanese Communist Party, how the party should seek cooperation within the opposition camp will likely be one of key issues in the DP leadership election, critics said. (Jiji Press)