Democratic Party 民進党 Minshintō | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | DP |
Leader | Kohei Otsuka |
Founded | 27 March 2016 |
Dissolved | 7 May 2018 |
Merger of | |
Merged into | Democratic Party For the People[a] |
Headquarters | Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
Newspaper | Minshin Press |
Ideology | Liberalism (Japanese)[b] |
Political position | Centre to centre-left[b] |
Colors | Blue[1][2] Red[2] |
Website | |
minshin.jp | |
^ a: The candidates of this party ran as independents in 2017 Lower house election and sat within Group of Independents[3] and merged with Kibō no Tō to form DPFP, a party born from splits in the Liberal Democratic Party and Democratic Party. ^ b: But there were also some conservative[4][5][6] centre-right factions[7] within the party. |
The Democratic Party (民進党, Minshintō, DP), was a political party in Japan. It was the largest opposition political party in Japan from 2016 until its marginalization in the House of Representatives in 2017.[8] The party was founded on 27 March 2016 from the merger of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party.[9] The majority of the party split on 28 September 2017, before the 2017 general election.[10] Many of its members contesting the election as candidates for the Party of Hope, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan or as party members without nomination.[11][12][13][14] On 7 May 2018 the DP merged with the Party of Hope to form the Democratic Party For the People.[15][16]
A marriage of convenience could splinter the DP, which despite its left-leaning platform comprises a hodgepodge of liberals and conservatives. Some DP members have said it might be better to disband the party, whose toxic reputation stems from its disunity and botched rule from 2009 to 2012.
The DP cannot make up its mind whether it is a second conservative party that offers moderate alternatives to LDP policies or a 'progressive' party that stands on the other side of an ideological divide.
The upcoming presidential race, however, could further deepen division among conservative and liberal lawmakers in the party.
The establishment of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's Party of Hope — which scalped candidates from the centre-right factions of the DP — failed to challenge the LDP.
... the disparate origins of these parties generated a persistent polarisation between the DPJ's conservative centre-right and progressive centre-left factions. Now these forces appear to have found their natural ideological homes.