Photo/Illutration Yuichiro Tamaki, center, celebrates his re-election as leader of the Democratic Party for the People along with Seiji Maehara, second from right, in Tokyo on Sept. 2. (Hikaru Uchida)

Yuichiro Tamaki, 54, was re-elected as leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPP) after defeating his only rival, Seiji Maehara, 61, the party’s acting head.

Tamaki’s Sept. 2 victory was a ringing endorsement for his policy of not ruling out cooperation with the ruling coalition parties to achieve the DPP’s own policy goals.

But with simmering intra-party conflict over what constitutes an ideal opposition party, bickering could again surface, depending on how the party is managed in the months ahead.

Tamaki’s term will expire at the end of September 2026.

The results of the vote count, held at a hotel in Tokyo, showed that Tamaki garnered the support of 14 of the 21 Diet members and about 80 percent of the local assembly members, party members and supporters, handing him an overwhelming victory over Maehara.

At a news conference afterward, Tamaki said: “The current policy line was approved. It is important to focus on policy implementation ... to achieve results.”

He also announced he would retain Kazuya Shinba as secretary-general as a reward for his loyalty.

During the election campaign, Tamaki and Maehara clashed over where to draw the line on cozying up to the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party.

Tamaki, who champions “solutions rather than confrontation,” has eschewed traditional alliances among opposition parties, saying the ruling and opposition parties should be policy oriented.

In this regard, he vowed to cooperate with the ruling and opposition parties on a policy-oriented basis and has not ruled out teaming up with the LDP at some point.

In response, Maehara blasted Tamaki for playing into the hands of the ruling coalition, which would like nothing better than a fragmented opposition bloc.

He called for “confrontation with the LDP” and a change of government through a policy oriented “non-LDP” coalition that does not include the Japanese Communist Party.

While some in the party questioned the feasibility of Maehara’s approach, younger members clearly remain rankled by Tamaki’s support for the government’s initial budget last year, saying it had alienated supporters.

(This article was written by Nozomi Matsui and Takashi Narazaki.)

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