The DPJ’s losing streak at the ballot box continued at the second round of local elections held on April 24. Two weeks ago, the DPJ was handily defeated by the LDP in the first round of gubernatorial and prefectural assembly elections. Another defeat, however much it was already projected, was expected to further embolden the opposition parties as well as the anti-Kan opponents within the ruling party.
Local elections are a necessity in any healthy and functioning democracy. The differences that exist across prefectures, let alone municipalities, mean that there are many issues that cannot (and should not) be addressed by national policy. Over the past decade, there has been a broad national trend towards regionalization; indeed, the DPJ itself even tried to ride on this desire for regional autonomy by making it one of its pledges in its 2009 election manifesto. Consequently, local issues do matter in municipal elections far more than national elections, even though the latter also elect Diet members who represent a particular district. However, municipal elections also factor in national issues, in particular the ruling party’s performance and policies. This would appear particularly true in the 2011 unified local elections, where the crisis management capabilities of the DPJ government after the 3/11 disasters was harshly judged by the voters.