With anti-nuclear sentiment riding high in Japan, a former citizens' group is trying to make the shift to a full-fledged political party. Greens Japan in late July said it would field candidates in the next elections on an environmental platform that includes weaning the country off nuclear energy. It hopes to become the first officially recognised national-level green political party.
There are many obstacles before it can gain any real political power or become officially recognized, but recent protests give some indication of the backing it could enjoy. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tokyo and other cities to urge the country to give up nuclear power, which used to provide one-third of its electricity.
The protests followed the meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, about 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, since the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. Greens Japan was already planning to enter party politics, but the nation's worst atomic accident accelerated its schedule, party members say, amid public dissatisfaction with existing parties.
Many people have expressed anger at Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for approving the reactivation of two reactors at a plant in western central Japan, despite warnings of faults lines under the complex. The rest of the country's 50 reactors remained idle, as public resistance has prevented their restarting after maintenance shutdowns. "There is no way we support Noda's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)," a demonstrator named Sumiko said at a recent rally of environmentally-minded citizens at the parliament building. "I will support the Green Party."
The group's Hitoshi Nakayama, a city assembly member in Niigata, said it can win votes "if it is rooted in public opinion and establishes democratic and innovative ideas and policies." But Greens Japan is so far a political party only in name, as official recognition at national level requires at least five members in parliament. There has been no official national environmental party. A short-lived attempt by a member of the upper house in 2002 failed to reach five members, and was extinguished when he lost his seat two years later.
But Nakayama said Greens Japan hopes to field candidates for the lower house of parliament, with the help of civic groups and non-governmental organisations, if the premier calls elections soon as is widely expected. Opinion polls figures are not available for the Greens' support, but they indicate that voters disenchanted with the ruling DPJ are not automatically flocking to the established opposition.
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, under whose watch more than 50 reactors sprang up across the quake-prone country, is no more attractive to the increasingly anti-nculear voter. The public has turned their back on established political parties, analysts said, with as many as 60 to 70 per cent of voters identifying themselves as non-affiliated.
That represents a "big opportunity" for anti-nuclear newcomers such as Greens Japan, sais Baerbel Hoehn, vice-chair of the German Greens at her Japanese counterpart's inaugural meeting in Tokyo. But barriers to entry remain high. Not only does national campaigning require deep pockets, but Japan's system of single-seat constituencies is advantageous to bigger parties, with no representation for those who come in second.
Additionally, until the group has five members in parliament, its candidates will have to run as affiliated to an unofficial party, which can be off-putting to the institution-minded Japanese voter. Greens Japan "would have to overcome several major difficulties before becoming like the German counterpart," said Ken Tsuzuku, an engineer and the leader of the Photovoltaic Owners Network, who has been working on alternative energy for decades.
But spirits are high among the new party's current 70 members, who are "energetically working on [its] establishment," Hoehn told a news conference. Scott Ludlam, a lawmaker of the Australian Greens, also expressed support for the first Japanese party to be based on an environmental platform. "The meeting that we witness here today will change things," he said at the group's first meeting as a party. The party's policies would include abolition of nuclear energy, emphasising electricity conservation and promoting renewable energy, said Nao Suguro, one of its leaders. Since more people show an understanding of the creation of a new kind of political party, "I believe the party can widen its support," she said.
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