Japan opposition figure’s rise could pave way for female leaders

Renho Murata, a half-Taiwanese half-Japanese 48-year-old mother of two, won in a landslide and was elected the new leader of the Democratic Party, the nation’s second-biggest after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The result is expected around 2:40 p.m. Tokyo time. Inada is one of only three women in the 20-strong cabinet of the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, whose mission to fill 30% of public and private sector leadership positions with women by 2020 has got off to a disappointing start.

“I would like to apologise for the confusion caused by my inaccurate recollection of what happened and the contradictions in my recent remarks”, she said, before confirming that she identifies herself as Japanese.

The Democratic Party was established in March through the merger of Ishin no To and the Democratic Party of Japan. “Even that in itself opens up new possibilities for women”, she said, adding that she also wanted to increase the number of female lawmakers.

But DP officials stated that Renho’s candidacy adhered to its regulations and allowed her to run. This week, Ms Renho acknowledged that her Taiwanese nationality had remained valid.

But it transpired that Murata still retained her Taiwanese passport, meaning that she was not only breaking the law on dual citizenship after the age of 22, but sparking accusations that she could be beholden to Taipei.

“Ms. Renho’s statements on her nationality have been contradictory”, independent political commentator Minoru Morita said in a Facebook post.

Okada gave his support to Renho in the presidential election.

Renho promised in her campaign earlier that she would safeguard the war-renouncing Article 9 at all costs, though she also expressed readiness to discuss with the ruling party changes to the Constitution.

Ms Renho drew plaudits while serving on a government cost-cutting panel for grilling bureau- crats over what were seen as wasteful projects. She was criticized for suggesting Japan should be content with the world’s second-best supercomputer, rather than plowing more money into research. She said this week that Japan must tackle its most urgent problem – its shrinking population – by sharing its wealth with the next generation. Spending on education and social welfare would ensure that young people become taxpayers, she said. “Just some time in the news”, Steven Reed, a professor of political science at Chuo University in Tokyo said of the Democrats.

That may end the legal questions surrounding the issue, but the issue will likely continue to haunt her politically in various ways – including doubts that her flip-flop cast over her leadership qualifications and charges that the way she handled her own nationality was too careless as a politician.

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