Mr. Hosokawa "Reflecting the will of the people, reforming" Mr. Kono "Political deterioration, new distrust"

How did the introduction of the single-seat constituency system change politics? More than a quarter of a century ago, I asked the top of the ruling and opposition parties at the time when they agreed to enact four political reform laws.

Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa "The two-party system has not been established"

At that time, the political system of the "1955 system" lost its axis of opposition at the end of the Cold War. The rising economy has come to an end, and the political role of fruit distribution has diminished. There was also a strong need to deal with political corruption such as the Recruit scandal.

The answer was reform to create a political system that could change the government, and the Hosokawa Cabinet had its historic mission. It was not enough to lead to the ideal "moderate multi-party system", but it was necessary to complete the reform. The flow of political funds has become much more transparent.

I had a dislike for faction politics. The tightening of the Tanaka faction at the time when I belonged to the Liberal Democratic Party was severe. I witnessed a wad of bills flying around at the time of the presidential election, and I disliked it, so I once moved to the governor of Kumamoto prefecture.

Political reform insisted on a single-seat constituency and a proportional representation with 250 seats each, but unfortunately the single-seat constituency has 300 seats as proposed by the LDP. I would like you to reconsider the government draft at that time, which can reflect diverse public opinions.

When the House of Councilors rejected the political reform plan, I was wondering if I should actually dissolve the House of Representatives. With the support of the people, there was a possibility that the ruling party would win and be approved as proposed by the government if it was dissolved. However, he gave top priority to the agreement with the opposition to complete the reform.

Public opinion is not in a position to cause a swell of political reform. It would be difficult without a strong leader to pull the debate.

Historically, a complete two-party system has not been established in Japan. Intermediate parties like Komeito will remain.

The opposition party is primarily responsible for the lack of momentum for the change of government. The next administration can only be seen by summarizing what was achieved and what was lacking in the Democratic Party of Japan, which was established in 2009, and raising a big flag different from that of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Not only the policy to confront the Liberal Democratic Party, but also the revitalization of local areas and the relationship between the national and local governments must be raised from different angles. The first opposition party is also narrow. If you don't wrap everything big, you won't succeed.

Yohei Kono Former President of the Liberal Democratic Party "The check function does not work within the party"

    In order to eliminate the growing political distrust of the people, I thought that the opposition and Liberal Democratic Party presidents should also carry out political reforms. Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa decided that he could talk to him.

Initially, the voice that "measures to prevent corruption are necessary to eliminate political distrust" changed to the voice that "electoral system reform including the introduction of the single-seat constituency system is necessary" and was filled.

Politics deteriorated with the introduction of the single-member constituency system. At that time, the positive and negative aspects should be studied in depth. Looking back on the history to date, the proportional representation system has not scooped up minority opinions. Only those who lost in the single-seat constituency are picked up in proportion.

The authority of the executive department has also been concentrated, such as the decision of official candidates and personnel affairs. It will be necessary to speed up decision-making, but self-control and humility have disappeared, creating new political distrust.

Reforms are needed in response to changes in the times and public awareness. Why not abolish the duplicate candidacy that can be revived as a proportional representation if you lose at least in the single-seat constituency? It would be one way for both houses of the Diet to present reform plans to each other. The parties cannot reform the system of their choice.

The check function in the party is not working now. In the past, there was a "pseudo-government change" in which power was transferred to contrasting policies and claims among factions, but in September last year, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who advocated succession, won overwhelmingly.

Individual lawmakers are also afraid to be in conflict with the executives and resented. Former powers had self-restraint in exercising the right to dissolve the House of Representatives. Now I use it to prolong the life of the administration.

Corporate donations should be abolished for political funding. At that time, the creation of political party subsidies and the abolition of corporate donations were a set. It has been a quarter of a century since we created only a public subsidy system and left corporate contributions.

The definition of political party should also be clarified. At the end of the year, I did not anticipate a situation in which political parties would be separated and gathered for the purpose of subsidies.

If the opposition is united, it can beat the Liberal Democratic Party. The reason it can't be done is because the larger party won't give up. When I was president, I handed over the position of prime minister to the Socialist Party and established a coalition government.

Source: https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQODE057RL0V00C21A1000000?unlock=1