The 14th

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 ...

leadership election was held on 4 June 2010 after the incumbent party President

Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...

resigned after failing to fulfil a promise to the voters regarding the United States Forces Japan's bases in

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

; his resignation was reportedly an attempt to improve the DPJ's chances in the upcoming House of Councillors election in July 2010. Also incumbent party Secretary-General Ichirō Ozawa resigned on 4 June 2010 due to many recent scandals. Finance Minister

Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for m ...

was widely expected to succeed Hatoyama, and a new government was expected to be formed on 7 June 2010. On 3 June 2010

Shinji Tarutoko is a Japanese politician and former member of the House of Representatives. Early life and education Tarutoko was born in Shimane Prefecture on 6 August 1959. He studied at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. Career Tarutok ...

declared his candidacy to run against

for the leadership. Apart from these two, Transport Minister

Seiji Maehara is a Japanese politician and was the leader of the Democratic Party from 1 September 2017 until its dissolution later that month.

and Foreign Affairs Minister

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 ...

were also seen as contenders, but both backed Kan. Kan defeated Tarutoko by a vote of 291–129 with 2 invalid ballots was elected president of DPJ. Kan was seen as coming from the left of the DPJ and emphasized his independence from Ozawa; he succeeded in getting the backing of right-wingers Maehara, Okada and Yoshito Sengoku. He was sworn in as PM on the same day. A government reshuffle was expected over the weekend.

Presidential election results

* 1 invalid vote

References

2010 elections in Japan Political party leadership elections in Japan Democratic Party (Japan, 1998) leadership election {{Japan-election-stub