Reformists Rejoin Japan’s Ruling Party

A bold attempt to protest graft and corruption in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a move that won wide popular support when it was undertaken 10 years ago, collapsed Tuesday when members of the New Liberal Club decided to dissolve their party and rejoin the ruling party.

Yohei Kono and Toshio Yamaguchi, who led a group of five rebels out of the ruling party in 1976 to protest an effort to cover up a bribery scandal involving the Lockheed Corp., won approval from Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone for 126 members of the New Liberal Club to join the Liberal Democratic Party. The group includes six members of Parliament and 120 members of the local legislature.

Nakasone said he was “very happy” about the decision. He said the return of the splinter group will give the Liberal Democrats “new blood and energy.”

Kono, one of the New Liberal Club leaders, said: “For those who attempt to pursue ideals, reality is severe. The wall is thick.”

Attracted Wide Support

At first, the rebellion attracted widespread popular support. Many Japanese took the unprecedented step of contributing funds and campaigning without pay for New Liberal Club candidates in an election that took place four months after Kakuei Tanaka was indicted. He was accused of accepting a bribe of $1.8 million from Lockheed, while serving as prime minister from 1972 to 1974, to persuade All Nippon Airways to buy Lockheed L-1011 TriStar jets.

In the election of December, 1976, Kono and his group more than tripled their strength, winning 18 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Political analysts said at the time that they could have won even more seats if they had fielded more candidates.

The New Liberal Club’s reform effort was undermined in later elections as candidates who were not reform-minded turned to the New Liberal Club after failing to win the endorsement of the Liberal Democratic Party. And citizen contributions dwindled.

In the election of 1983, the New Liberal Club won only eight seats but provided crucial support to Nakasone. The Liberal Democratic majority had been reduced to a razor-thin two seats. The club agreed to join the ruling party in a coalition, and this enabled Nakasone to stay in office despite the election disaster that followed Tanaka’s conviction.

Reduced to 6 Seats

Last month, however, the Liberal Democrats scored the biggest gain in their 31-year history, winning 304 seats, a majority of 48, and eliminated the need for a coalition. The New Liberal Club’s strength was reduced to six seats.

Tanaka, who has been confined to his home since suffering a stroke, is still a member of the lower house and is still titular head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction, which controls 140 seats in Parliament. This is about twice the strength he had when Kono and his rebels bolted the party in 1976.

The New Liberal Club’s move will add five seats to the Liberal Democrats’ strength in the lower house, bringing their total to 309 of the 512 seats, the highest in history and the largest as a percentage--60.4%--since 1969, when the party controlled 61.7% of a smaller, 491-seat chamber.

Seiichi Tagawa, one of the five original rebels, said he would refuse to rejoin the Liberal Democrats “even if it meant my death.” Tagawa will become an unaffiliated member of the lower house.

One New Liberal Club member of the upper house will also join the Liberal Democrats, bringing their total in the upper house to 145, a majority of 19.