The Liberal Democratic Party’s loss of all three seats in the April 28 Lower House by-elections clearly shows the response of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration to the slush fund scandal has failed to regain the public's trust.

Kishida must see the latter half of the ordinary Diet session as the last chance to clarify the facts about the scandal and push through fundamental reforms in the political funding system.

In the special elections, which were the first national polls since the scandal came to light, the LDP lost all three Lower House seats, which were previously all held by the LDP. The election results leave little doubt that the public support for the ruling party is on the wane.

In the Tokyo No. 15 district and the Nagasaki No. 3 district, the elections were triggered by the resignation of the LDP seat holders over an election violation incident in Tokyo and a slush fund scandal in Nagasaki, respectively.

The LDP, seeing no chance of victory in the two districts, chose not to field candidates in either district, resulting in an effective “no contest” defeat. The ruling party should reflect deeply and seriously on its failure to fulfill its responsibility to provide voters in these districts with options.

The loss in the Shimane No. 1 district, the only district where the ruling party put up a candidate, a political neophyte, was particularly damaging for the LDP.

The election was over the seat that was vacated by the death of former LDP House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, who continued winning re-election ever since the single-seat system was introduced in 1996, making the constituency an impenetrable ruling party stronghold known as an “LDP kingdom.”

This loss should be recognized as a sign of profound and pervasive distrust in the party.

Hosoda was the former leader of the LDP’s most powerful faction, once headed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was pummeled after the revelation that it had been systematically amassing secret funds for many years.

Kishida traveled to the district twice to support the LDP candidate’s election campaign and issued a rallying cry saying, “I would like to see the first major signal of party reform raised from here in Shimane,” but it did not convince voters.

Given that the Kishida administration has only made half-hearted efforts to uncover the truth of the scandal and hold those involved accountable, and its reluctance to push through a radical reform to make political funding transparent, it is hardly surprising that voters considered Kishida’s party reform rhetoric to be all just talk.

When his political integrity came under scrutiny over his connections with the Unification Church (now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), Hosoda failed to properly fulfill his responsibility to offer convincing explanations about the matter.

Hosoda embodied a widespread tendency among LDP lawmakers to avoid directly addressing doubts and questions and keep repeating lame, hastily made-up excuses to save their political skin.

This deep-seated tendency among LDP members, which was also linked to the slush fund issue, must be corrected if the party wants to regain support.

In Shimane, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan broke through the LDP's entrenched political citadel.

The liberal opposition party defeated Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), another opposition group, in Nagasaki and won an intensely contested election among nine candidates in Tokyo, demonstrating its political relevance as the leading opposition party.

However, the CDP owes much of its victory to the “enemy's loss” in the slush fund scandal, and it needs to make much more effort to enhance the credibility and attractiveness of its policy agenda as well as its political preparedness before the next general election to be trusted with governance.

The CDP is also facing a crucial political test of whether it can unite opposition groups and press the reluctant LDP for bold reforms in political funding.

In Tokyo and Nagasaki, where the LDP did not field candidates, the elections were a competition between opposition candidates.

However, in the general election, solid electoral cooperation and tough-minded candidate adjustment deals among opposition parties are essential to prevent votes critical of the government from being dispersed among multiple political forces.

Although there are high hurdles for opposition efforts to put up a united front against the ruling camp, such as aligning basic policies, posing a serious threat that makes the ruling party feel “a fear of losing power” will undoubtedly contribute to a shift toward politics that engages with the citizens.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 29