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On February 9, at the DPJ annual party Convention in Koriyama, Fukushima, following President Banri Kaieda's speech to the floor, Secretary General Akihiro Ohata proposed the following 4 motions to the Convention: '2014 DPJ Action Plan Proposal', 'Fiscal 2013 Accounts, and Fiscal 2014 Budget Proposal', 'Proposed Revisions to the Party Regulations and Organisational Regulations', and 'Action Plan Proposal for the 2015 Nationwide Local Election Campaign'. He also proposed the Convention Declaration (Fukushima
Declaration) to the floor.
Ohata emphasized, "There can be no revitalization of Japan without the recovery of Fukushima. That is the DPJ's basic stance." He said that it was based on this philosophy, and also in order to offer support for the situation in Fukushima, that the DPJ had decided to convene its convention in Koriyama.
Ohata then referred to the '2014 DPJ Action Plan', saying, "After a little
more than three years in government, we faced a general election. Then,
unfortunately, we were defeated in last year's House of Councillors election. The DPJ continues to undergo severe scrutiny from you all, and I am strongly conscious of the fact that we are still in the process of regaining public trust." He went on: "On the other hand, as we could see during last year's Extraordinary Diet session when the Abe administration repeatedly engaged in unprecedented strong-arm tactics, and the ruling parties passed the Special Secrets Protection Law, the Abe Cabinet has started to go on a rampage using its overwhelming majority in the Diet as a base." Ohata added, "We cannot afford to hesitate for even a moment when faced with such an administration. In order to 'Protect lives, employment and livelihoods' here in Japan, we must re-establish ourselves as the main opposition party, one that is capable of once more holding the reins of power.However painful it is we must continue to move forward."
Ohata went on, "In order to achieve this, the pressing task we face is to create a position from which we can stand united to fight the nationwide local elections scheduled to take place next spring." He said that DPJ Diet members, headed by President Kaieda, had travelled around the nation, and that the 'Proposed Revisions to the Party Regulations and Organisational Regulations' has been created based on opinions received from party members in the meeting of secretaries general of party branches and in party seminars. He stated that the proposal was an important revision of party regulations that aimed to strengthen the party's prefectural organization.
Furthermore, Ohata stressed, "During the current Diet session, we will continue to place maximum importance on the reconstruction of the disaster-affected areas and the response to the nuclear accident, as well as working to 'Protect lives, employment and livelihoods' here in Japan, by severely confronting the runaway Abe administration based on the principles of 'hands-on-governance, issuing counterproposals and reform.'" In particular, in regard to the Special Secrets Protection Law, he said that the DPJ intended to join forces with a wide spectrum of members of the public, in order to urge that the Law be repealed and the DPJ proposal realized so as to protect the people's right to know and the freedom of speech. Ohata stated, "We must create a formation to confront the massive ruling party majority. The DPJ must fulfil this role and responsibility, using our past experience as the party of government in order to create a solid opposition force."
Moreover, with regard to the party organizational structure, Ohata announced that the DPJ's 'Women's Committee', which had been engaging in a variety of strategies to realize gender equality in society, such as increasing the number of female politicians and strengthening the network of such politicians, would henceforth be known as the 'Gender Equality Committee'.
With regard to the 'Proposed Revisions to the Party Regulations and Organisational Regulations', Ohata announced that "In order to reinforce the party's prefectural headquarters and main party branches, and promote the revitalization of party activities starting from the regions, we have reviewed the existing system of main party branches and party branches established based on administrative districts, and revised the party regulations and organizational regulations so that we can ask local assembly members to play a greater role in their local areas." In particular, he announced that with regard to electoral districts which lacked a main branch chief (a post filled by a sitting or prospective Diet member), the regulations would be revised so that local assembly members could serve as temporary representatives for such districts. Furthermore, with regard to individual party branches, the requirement for leading such branches had hitherto limited chiefs to local assembly members belonging to prefectural assemblies and assemblies of cities designated by government ordinance, but it had been decided to broaden this to include members of assemblies of regular cities and towns, and to make it possible to establish more than one party branch in the same administration area. Ohata said, "We will accelerate implementation of these organisational reforms, and establish a formation that is capable of engaging in local grassroots activities as we move toward next spring's local elections."
Ohata stated that the 'Action Plan Proposal for the 2015 Nationwide Local Election Campaign' divided the lead-up to the actual elections into three stages. He stressed that the party would find suitable candidates to run based on the proposed plan, support the pre-election activities of candidates and provide assistance to candidates through an election campaign headquarters, as well as engaging in early preparations such as expanding the registration of party members and supporters who would form the basis for the local election campaign strategy, providing support for drafting local policies and local manifestos, and enhancing the party's Internet campaigning.
The four proposals were approved by the Convention by a round of applause.
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