Japan’s main opposition Democratic Party yesterday elected a former Cabinet minister as its first female leader, following a last-minute hiccup when she was found to hold dual citizenship in violation of Japanese law.
Renho, 48, who goes by her given name only, hopes to repair the party’s image, battered by three years in power that were plagued by infighting, policy flip-flops and unkept promises that handed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a landslide election win in 2012.
Born to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father, the former TV announcer, ex-model and mother of twins was embarrassed this week when she discovered she held Republic of China (ROC) as well as Japanese citizenship.
Photo: Bloomberg
The law requires those with dual citizenship to choose one by age 22 and when opting for Japan, endeavor to renounce the other nationality. However, there is no penalty for not doing so.
Renho had previously said she believed paperwork to renounce her ROC citizenship had been completed when she was a teenager, but was recently notified by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan that her ROC citizenship was still valid.
“I would like to apologize for the recent trouble I have caused by my unclear memory and statements,” she said in a speech ahead of the vote.
Renho is one of a handful of women to grab the spotlight lately in Japan’s male-dominated corridors of power, along with hawkish Japanese Minister of Defense Tomomi Inada and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, a former defense minister.
She said yesterday that her party faces an uphill battle against the LDP, which together with its junior partner dominates both houses of parliament.
“From here on, we will face a giant ruling party,” she said after the vote. “I’d like to call upon everyone to join me in becoming a party that does not criticize, but makes proposals ... so one day we will become Japan’s choice.”
In an interview with Reuters, Renho said the prime minister’s signature “Abenomics” growth policies had stalled, and a Democratic government would not sharply shift Japanese foreign policies centered on Tokyo’s alliance with Washington.
Renho trounced former Japanese foreign minister Seiji Maehara and Legislator Yuichiro Tamaki in the leadership election.
The one-time journalist earned the nickname “Hissatsu” (shoot-to-kill) for her style of grilling bureaucrats over public waste, in a country where the media are often criticized for pulling their punches.
Renho first came to national prominence in the 1980s as a model and later as a TV newscaster, reporting from quake-devastated Kobe in 1995. She entered parliament in 2004.
Additional reporting by AFP
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