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On the afternoon of May 9, the DPJ held the 2013 local assembly members’ forum and national study meeting at a Tokyo venue. Approximately 400 local assembly members gathered to participate in the event.
DPJ President Banri Kaieda, whose speech came at the end of the event due to the Diet schedule, reported that the party had been engaging in discussions with local branches all over the country since January of this year, and stated, “I had the opportunity to meet with many of you on such occasions, and now I am delighted to have the chance to meet with you again.” He stressed that his travels around the country had confirmed his impression that “the spirit of the DPJ should not be allowed to die” and called for participants’ cooperation, saying, “I would like to ask you all to be united on this point.”
Kaieda also expressed his appreciation for the cooperation provided by local assembly members in the House of Councillors by-election held in Yamaguchi prefecture on April 28. He referred to exit poll data which showed that approximately one half of non-affiliated voters had voted for DPJ-backed candidate Hideo Hiraoka, and said that the number of votes gained by Hiraoka was more than the number of votes cast for the DPJ in the general election for the House of Representatives held at the end of last year. Kaieda said, “We have taken a step forward in the process of rejuvenating the DPJ.”
Kaieda also commented on the fact that during his national tour he had received many comments to the effect that “The DPJ is a party for Diet members. You should place more emphasis on local assembly members.” He explained that “As part of the party’s organizational reform we have created a Local Assembly Members’ Department. This was down to the requests we received from all of you.” Kaieda expressed his intention of changing the party structure in order to strengthen support and contacts with local assembly members, saying, “When we consider that so many of you have gathered to participate in this local assembly members’ forum and that there are more than 2000 local assembly members who have DPJ membership, it seems strange that a Local Assembly Members’ Department has not existed up until now.”
Moreover, Kaieda added, “If we include today, there are now 36 days until the start of elections for the Tokyo municipal assembly. Furthermore, the House of Councillors election will start in 56 days.” He went on, “I would like to ask you to double the efforts you made in the Yamaguchi by-election for these campaigns” and added, “The biggest difference between the third force of the Japan Restoration Party and Your Party, and the DPJ is local assembly members such as all of you gathered here today. That is the DPJ’s advantage.”
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