The 18th

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic Part ...

presidential election was held on January 18, 2015.The Japan Times, December 17, 2014
Former secretary-general Hosono to run for DPJ leader
/ref> The election was held to replace outgoing president

Banri Kaieda is a Japanese politician who has served as the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, he also served as the President of the Democratic Party of Japan between 2012 a ...

who resigned after losing his seat in the December 2014 general election. Acting president

Katsuya Okada is a Japanese politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Japan from January to December 2012. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, he was the President of the Democratic Party (Japan, 2016), Democratic Party, and previously of th ...

won the election after two rounds of voting, returning to the position he held from 2004 until 2005.The Japan Times, January 18, 2015
Okada defeats Hosono to win DPJ presidential election
/ref>

Candidates

3 candidates ran in the leadership election: *

Goshi Hosono is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Ōmihachiman, Shiga and graduate of Kyoto University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000 ...

, former secretary general of the DPJ. *

, ex-party president (2004–05) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009–10). *

Akira Nagatsuma is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a member of House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). Nagatsuma is currently the deputy leader and the head of the Tokyo chapter of the CDP. He had serve ...

, former health, labor and welfare minister.The Japan Times, December 25, 2014
DPJ leadership campaign begins, with three candidates running
/ref>

Results

1st round

This is the first time that the local councillors and members votes outweigh the caucus votes in a DPJ presidential election. In order to win, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the points. Each caucus (consisting of DPJ

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

members) member vote carry 2 points. A prospective candidate for the 2016 House of Councillors election was also allowed to vote, with his vote carrying 1 point. Local and regional DPJ councillors altogether carried 141 points, while rank-and-file supporters and members accounted for 354 votes or almost a half of total 760 points. Turnout among supporters and members was recorded at 46.21% and 90.06% of councillors participated in the voting. As no candidates obtained a majority in the 1st round, the election headed to a runoff between the top two candidates, Hosono and Okada.

2nd round

In the runoff, only the caucus and the prospective 2016 candidate were voting. Katsuya Okada garnered 133 points in the 2nd round, winning the election.

References

External links

* Democratic Party
Past elections for the party presidency
* The Senkyo, election dictionary
Democratic Party presidential elections
{{Democratic Party of Japan leadership elections 2015 elections in Japan Political party leadership elections in Japan Indirect elections January 2015 events in Japan Democratic Party (Japan, 1998) leadership election