Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has announced that he will not run in the Dec. 16 House of Representatives election, long after his leadership was harshly and incessantly called into question.

Hatoyama played the main role in helping his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) win the 2009 lower house election, thus bringing a change of government. However, he is also the one who amplified the public’s distrust in politics by making a plethora of irresponsible off-the-cuff remarks, mostly over a plan to relocate the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.

Now that the DPJ-led government is about to be tested by the public in the upcoming general election, Hatoyama should not have fled in the face of the “enemy.”

When he held a press conference in Hokkaido last week, Hatoyama said he had made up his mind not to run in the election and to retire from politics because the party leadership decided not to officially endorse members unless they signed a written pledge to follow its policies. “I couldn’t run in the election with the party’s official endorsement” if he maintains his own beliefs, Hatoyama said.

But in reality, Hatoyama apparently expressed his intention to retire from politics only to avoid facing a loss in his home Hokkaido Constituency No. 9, in which he was expected to have an uphill battle.

It is natural for the DPJ leadership to have decided not to officially endorse party members unless they change their rebellious attitudes.

Hatoyama voted against bills for integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, passage of which Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed his determination to stake his political life on. He kept dragging Noda down even after former DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa and his followers left to form a new party.

Hatoyama also opposes Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.

If the DPJ yielded to opinions like Hatoyama’s, its decision-making process would be thrown into chaos following the election. Such confusion could become an obstacle to working with the two main opposition parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.

The DPJ has been riven by repeated internal battles due to differing opinions among members over key issues. Considering the fact, demanding that the party’s prospective candidates follow its policies is an effective means of improving its nature as a party.

Hatoyama made too many missteps to list.

As soon as the DPJ took the reins of government, Hatoyama promoted a misguided “politician-led decision-making” principle without taking his lack of knowledge and experience into consideration. Abolishing meetings of administrative vice ministers was a typical example of how he put the principle into effect. The result was the stagnation of government administrative functions and demoralisation of bureaucrats.

On the Futenma issue, Hatoyama said he would transfer the base’s functions “at least” outside Okinawa Prefecture even though he had no clear prospect for doing so. His remark not only undermined the Japan-US alliance―the cornerstone of the nation’s diplomacy―but also triggered a backlash from local residents when he eventually returned to the original plan to relocate the functions within the prefecture. Such resentment still lingers there.

Hatoyama also has not provided clear explanations over a scandal in which his mother gave him sizable “allowances” in political funds. Moreover, he has engaged in a great deal of inappropriate behaviour for a former prime minister, such as joining an antinuclear rally held in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Hatoyama said he would not run in the next general election when he stepped down as prime minister, but he later retracted the remark.

Hatoyama has reportedly said he will live his “third life” from now on. We hope that he will play an active role in a world unrelated to politics so as not to cause confusion anymore.

(The Yomiuri Shimbun)

(Asia News Network)