Photo/Illutration A candidate gives a campaign speech on April 16 in Tokyo’s Koto Ward. (Soichi Tsuchidate)

“A Fairly Honourable Defeat” is a novel published in 1970 by Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), one of the most esteemed authors in postwar Britain.

One of the characters, an academic biochemist with a dark past, sets a chain of malice in motion by deliberately throwing the lives of his friends and acquaintances into disarray.

Amid the lies and betrayals that ensue, one character emerges as a Christ-like epitome of pure goodness. But even he cannot save everyone from the evil sown by the biochemist.

A defeat is not dishonorable for someone who truly tried their hardest. Murdoch, also a philosopher, seems to ask this question: “Which is more desirable, an honorable defeat or a victory suffused with a sense of loss?”

Now, here is a case of “defeat” that needs looking at.

Official campaigning kicked off on April 16 for Lower House by-elections in three districts in Tokyo, Nagasaki Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture.

But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has chosen the path of “defeat by default” in Tokyo and Nagasaki, even though these are the first Diet elections since some LDP faction members were prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the party’s political funds scandal.

Where the issue of “politics and money” is concerned, the LDP is deeply distrusted by voters.

But that is precisely why the party should be fielding its candidates in all the districts now--to have them explain the party’s readiness to mend its ways and let the voting public decide.

And nobody needs to be reminded that the LDP is the party in power.

From The Asahi Shimbun’s coverage of past elections, it appears that the expression “loss by default” came into use around 50 years ago. Since then, it has appeared every time the LDP sat out an election due to internal disarray or markedly negative public opinion.

Once upon a time, some senior LDP executives were adamantly opposed to accepting defeat by default and insisted on never forfeiting an election.

But this time, the party does not seem to have made any serious effort to avoid such an eventuality.

Fielding a candidate means giving voters a choice. The Asahi Shimbun’s “senryu” cynical haiku section ran a piece that nailed the essence of a “dishonorable defeat.”

It went, “Losing by default/ Rather than suffering an unmistakable defeat.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 18

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News