Japan’s struggling main opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Seiji Maehara to lead the party on Friday as it tries to raise its single-digit ratings and fend off a challenge by a new group with ties to popular Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike. Maehara, 55,…
Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara raises his fists with his party lawmakers after he was elected leader of Japan’s main opposition Democratic Party in Tokyo on Friday.
Japan’s struggling main opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Seiji Maehara to lead the party on Friday as it tries to raise its single-digit ratings and fend off a challenge by a new group with ties to popular Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike.
Maehara, 55, a conservative on security who shares Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s desire to revise the post-war, pacifist constitution, takes over amid speculation that Abe may call a snap general election later this year to refresh his mandate.
« If I were to refer now to a change in government, the people would say, ‘Whatever are you talking about?’ But we must change this dangerous political situation where there are no choices except the (ruling) Liberal Democratic Party or hopes for something whose form is not yet known, » Maehara told his fellow party members.
