September 2002 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election

September 2002 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election
23 September 2002
 
Candidate Yukio Hatoyama Naoto Kan
First round 294 (36.0%) 221 (27.1%)
Runoff 254 (51.2%) 242 (48.8%)
 
Candidate Yoshihiko Noda Takahiro Yokomichi
First round 182 (22.3%) 119 (14.6%)
Map of the results of the party member vote.
Previous President

Yukio Hatoyama

 Elected President

Yukio Hatoyama

The September 2002 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election was held on 23 September 2002 in accordance with the end of the presidential term which had commenced in 2000. Incumbent president Yukio Hatoyama was narrowly re-elected in a four-way race. In the runoff ballot between Hatoyama and fellow party co-founder Naoto Kan, the latter had a slight lead among the party's Diet members and candidates, but Hatoyama's large margin among prefectural representatives delivered him victory.[1]

Electoral system

The election was conducted via a points system:

  • Each of the party's members of the National Diet had a vote worth two points. (366 points total)
  • Registered party members or supporters could vote via mail. Points for this tier were distributed between the 47 prefectures, and awarded to candidates in proportion to votes won in each prefecture. (320 points total)
  • Each of the party's approved candidates for future Diet elections had a vote worth one point. (83 points total)
  • Each of the party's members of local councils or prefectural assemblies could vote via mail. Points for this tier were awarded to candidates in proportion to votes won. (47 points total)

In order to win, a candidate must secure more than 50% of points. If no candidate won more than 50%, a runoff was to be held the same day.

In the event of a runoff:

  • Each of the party's members of the National Diet had a vote worth two points. (366 points total)
  • Each of the party's approved candidates for future Diet elections had a vote worth one point. (83 points total)
  • A representative from each of the party's prefectural branches had a vote worth one point. (47 points total)

Candidates

Candidate Offices held
Yukio Hatoyama
(age 55)
Hokkaido		 Member of the House of Representatives (1986–)
President of the Democratic Party of Japan (1996–97, 1999–)
Naoto Kan
(age 55)
Tokyo		 Member of the House of Representatives (1980–)
President of the Democratic Party of Japan (1996–99)
Minister of Health and Welfare (1996)
Yoshihiko Noda
(age 47)
Chiba Prefecture		 Member of the House of Representatives (1993–96, 2000–)
Takahiro Yokomichi
(age 61)
Hokkaido		 Member of the House of Representatives (1969–83, 1996–)
Governor of Hokkaido (1983–95)

Withdrew

  • Seiji Maehara, member of the House of Representatives (1993–) – (endorsed Noda)
  • Shigefumi Matsuzawa, member of the House of Representatives (1993–) – (endorsed Noda)
  • Takashi Kawamura, member of the House of Representatives (1993–) – (endorsed Noda)
  • Kansei Nakano, member of the House of Representatives (1976–) – (endorsed Hatoyama)

Contest

Hatoyama announced his intention to seek re-election on 8 August. He stated that a renewed term would mark the end of his partnership with secretary-general Naoto Kan, and that he would assert himself more as leader if re-elected.[2] Kan officially declared his candidacy on the 20th. He stated that Hatoyama "exerts himself on the basis of ideals" and lacks the ability to persuade and debate.[3] Both campaigned on an anti-LDP and anti-bureaucracy platform. At the time of nominations on 10 September, The Japan Times reported that Hatoyama was the frontrunner with about 60 legislators in his camp.[4]

A number of junior lawmakers, organised in the "Group to Create the Second Era of the DPJ," sought leadership renewal. Four members of the group – Seiji Maehara, Yoshihiko Noda, Takashi Kawamura, and Shigefumi Matsuzawa – each declared their candidacy. Hatoyama stated that he would resign from the Diet if any of them won the leadership.[5] All four agreed that they should unify their bids, but could not agree on who should run.[6] After it became clear that Matsuzawa and Kawamura could not gather the 20 nominations required to stand, each dropped out and endorsed Noda in late August.[7][8] Maehara and Noda then agreed to settle the dispute by combining the results of opinion polling with a survey of the DPJ caucus. Maehara was more popular among the public, but this was outweighed by Noda's advantage among Diet members; Maehara duly withdrew on 3 September and endorsed Noda.[9] Noda stated that Article 9 should be amended, but acknowledged public opinion would not accept it.[4]

Takahiro Yokomichi, who placed third in the September 1999 race, ran again. He was supported by trade unions and former members of the Japan Socialist Party on the party's left wing.[4] Party vice president Kansei Nakano initially declared his candidacy and sought support from former DSP members;[5][10] he withdrew shortly before nominations were taken and endorsed Hatoyama.[4]

A Kyodo News poll from August showed that Kan was the most popular candidate among the public, with 31.3% support. He was followed by Hatoyama with 13.4%, Yokomichi with 6.1%, and Nakano on 3%; Maehara, Noda, Kawamura, and Matsuzawa each polled at 2.5% or less.[5]

Results

First round

Candidate Diet members Party members
& supporters 		Diet candidates Local assembly
members 		Total
Votes % Points Votes % Points Votes % Points Votes % Points
Yukio Hatoyama 63 34.4 126 56,417 35.8 126 25 30.1 25 499 36.0 17 294
Naoto Kan 45 24.6 90 41,167 26.1 94 22 26.5 22 455 32.8 15 221
Yoshihiko Noda 44 24.0 88 33,012 21.0 67 22 26.5 22 143 10.3 5 182
Takahiro Yokomichi 31 16.9 62 26,846 17.1 33 14 16.9 14 291 21.0 10 119
Total 183 100.0 366 157,442 100.0 320 83 100.0 83 1,388 100.0 47 816
Invalid 0 1,156 0 6
Turnout 183 100.0 158,598 51.3 83 100.0 1,388 87.9
Eligible 183 309,003 83 1,586
Source: DPJ Archive

Runoff

Candidate Diet members Diet candidates Prefectural
representatives 		Total
Votes % Points Votes % Points Votes % Points
Yukio Hatoyama 91 49.7 182 41 49.4 41 31 66.0 31 254
Naoto Kan 92 50.3 184 42 50.6 42 16 34.0 16 242
Total 183 100.0 366 83 100.0 83 47 100.0 47 496
Invalid 0 0 0
Turnout 183 100.0 83 100.0 47 100.0
Eligible 183 83 47
Source: DPJ Archive

References

  1. ^ "Hatoyama wins DPJ race in runoff". The Japan Times. 24 September 2002. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Hatoyama to run for re-election". The Japan Times. 8 August 2002.
  3. ^ "Kan announces candidacy in DPJ election". The Japan Times. 20 August 2002.
  4. ^ a b c d "Four DPJ candidates kick off campaigns for party president". The Japan Times. 10 September 2002. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Takahara, Kanako (16 August 2002). "Internal strife marks DPJ president race". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Junior DPJ members fail in unity bid". The Japan Times. 21 August 2002.
  7. ^ "Matsuzawa drops out of DPJ race". The Japan Times. 23 August 2002.
  8. ^ "DPJ's junior hopefuls down to two". The Japan Times. 30 August 2002.
  9. ^ "Maehara agrees to drop candidacy, support Noda in DPJ presidency race". The Japan Times. 3 September 2002.
  10. ^ "Nakano to vie for leadership of DPJ". The Japan Times. 10 August 2002.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.