Not by blood

Since my love affair with the inner workings of Japanese party politics continues unabated, see the below note on the new rules the LDP is setting for individuals desiring to run in the next lower house elections. No one gets through on Dad's coattails.

小選挙区候補者:自 民、公募と併せ、党 員投票実施へ

毎日新聞 2012年10月15日 21時29分

自民党は次期衆院選の小選挙区候補予定 者を決める際、公募と併せ、対象選挙区内 で党員による投票を行うよう各都道府県 連に通知した。石破茂幹事長が１５日の記 者会見で明らかにした。引退議員の子ども が公募の手続きを経て、後継候補に決定し たケースが続いたため、「世襲批判」を かわす狙いがある。

石破氏は記者会見で「その人がふさわし いかは、党員によって決める」と強調し た。通知で公募の応募者が１人でも党員投 票を実施するよう要請しており、石破氏は 「（応募者への）信任が非常に低ければ、 （選考の）やり直しもある」との認識を示 した。

自民党は０９年衆院選の公約で、引退議 員の配偶者や３親等以内の親族を同じ選挙 区で公認・推薦しないことを明記。しか し、その後、世襲も認める方針に転じ、次 期衆院選では北海道１２区で武部勤元幹事 長の長男、香川３区で大野功統元防衛庁長 官の長男をそれぞれ選挙区支部長に選ん でいる。【佐藤丈一】

Single electoral district candidates: The LDP to select via public advertisement as well as party member vote

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) notified prefectural party leadership that the selection process of candidates for single candidate electoral districts for the next Lower House Election will be by public solicitation for candidates as well as votes by party members within each district. Chief Secretary Ishiba Shigeru revealed this in an interview on the 15 th . Because cases of the children of retired MPs going through the public candidacy process and being selected as the successor continue to appear, the new procedure is aimed at answering criticism of hereditary succession.

Ishiba said at the interview, “The party must decide if those individuals are suitable or not.” According to the notification, if there is even one applicant to the public call for candidates, a vote by party members in that district is requested. Ishiba also added, “If the applicant’s credibility is unusually low, the selection could be redone.”

In the LDP platform in the 2009 elections, the spouses of retired MPs and relatives within three degrees of kinship were barred from running in the same electoral district. Regardless, afterwards, it changed to allow hereditary succession and in the next election, the oldest son of former chief party secretary Tsutomu Takebe was elected as district chief of Hokkaido District #12 and the oldest son of former defense ministry directory Yoshinori Ono was elected to the Kagawa 3 rd District.