After Japan's Election:
NAOI, TAKEO
AFTER JAPAN'S ELECTION Premier Ichiro Hatoyama scored a personal triumph By Takeo Naoi TOKYO NOW THAT the excitement of the general elections has died down, it is apparent that Ichiro Hatoyama...
...This is particularly true in the Upper House, where the Democrats have only 22 seats, the Liberals 91 and the Socialists 69...
...This gives them a combined total of 162 seats, or one-third of the Lower House, and means that they can block conservative plans to amend the Constitution's "no war" clause...
...It is now fairly obvious that the Democrats owe their success to the popular reaction against seven years of rule by former Premier Shigeru Yoshida...
...Hatoyama's present plans call for the formation of special committees on the Constitution, foreign policy and economy...
...The Liberals, however, are not pleased with the easy-going way the Premier is handling the problem of restoring normal relations with the Communist countries...
...Before the election, both Socialist parties claimed that they would merge in the near future...
...However, our party will seek the cooperation of other parties on important issues, such as the budget and diplomatic problems...
...On the other hand, the "progressive" forces set forth a definite goal: to gain one-third of the Lower House's seats and block any attempt to amend the Constitution...
...All in all, the conservative camp actually lost seven seats, while the "progressive" forces—the left- and right-wing Socialist parties, the Labor-Farmer party and the Communists—picked up 21...
...In the field of foreign affairs, the Democrats, like the Liberals, are eager to maintain friendly relations with the West...
...67 (61) Labor-Farmer 4 (5) Communists 2 (1) Splinter 2 (10) Independent 6 (1) Hatoyama could form a new cabinet within the next few weeks by gaining Liberal support for his program...
...Now the Right Socialists have to honor the promise of unity and, in effect, give up their position altogether...
...Mosaburo Suzuki, Left Socialist leader, has even gone so far as to say that "Socialist unity is not a compromise: it should be attained by fighting...
...what he was saying did not matter very much...
...They did not have time to work out their own policies and they did not present a program...
...As I have previously pointed out, if the conservatives split on the Communist issue Japan could face a mortal political crisis...
...There is also a deeper significance to these results...
...Their common slogans stressed opposition to rearmament and Constitutional changes...
...This explains why the latter made sizable gains while the former only picked up a few additional seats...
...In this way, he hopes to win the Liberal support which is vital to his government's existence...
...The Right Socialists were forced to follow it, but are not as radical or consistent as the Left...
...As yet, no one can tell whether the sensible and mature Socialists of the Right will be willing to do this...
...And the Right already has surrendered to some extent by accepting the anti-rearmament, anti-Constitu-tional-changes and anti-American slogans of the Left...
...Nevertheless, the Hatoyama "boom" did not develop into the landslide Democratic party leaders had hoped for...
...Now that the Left is on top, it is aggressively demanding unity...
...89 (74) Right Soc...
...But a conservative coalition seems out of the question in the wake of the bitter fighting which brought down the Yoshida regime...
...Their conservative rival, the Liberal party, completely on the defensive, managed to retain a hard core of 112 seats...
...AFTER JAPAN'S ELECTION Premier Ichiro Hatoyama scored a personal triumph By Takeo Naoi TOKYO NOW THAT the excitement of the general elections has died down, it is apparent that Ichiro Hatoyama personally swept the country...
...Wherever he appeared, the Japanese Premier charmed his audiences with his easy manner and the soft tone of his speeches...
...This did not harm them, because the voters appeared to be looking for a change in conservative leadership more than anything else...
...The Democrats emerged as Japan's leading political party, capturing 185 seats in the Lower House...
...The final results were: Seats Won (Last Diet) Democrats 185 (124) Liberals 112 (180) Left...
...Foreign observers and friends are urging this unity, which under the present circumstances means abandoning democratic socialism for the old Marxian theories of class struggle...
...Fortunately, the recent Kremlin shake-up has sobered the Democrats on this issue...
...Actually, each party was thinking of absorbing the other after gaining the upper hand in the election...
...On the domestic scene, there are no basic differences between the two parties...
...Aided by the Communists, who withdrew 39 of their candidates at the last minute, they increased their Diet representation from 74 to 89...
...This fear was substantiated by the unexpected upsurge of leftist strength, particularly the Left Socialists...
...He is demanding that the Right surrender...
...When Hatoyama's victory was apparent, he declared: "I am not planning to form a coalition cabinet with the cooperation of the Liberal party...
...People simply came out to see his face and hear his voice...
...This is essentially the platform of the Communists and Left Socialists...
Vol. 38 • March 1955 • No. 11
