Japanese democracy faces a crisis. Can the distorted politics under the long rule of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) be corrected?

The House of Representatives was dissolved on Oct. 9, effectively marking the start of the general election campaign. That will officially launch on Oct. 15, with voters heading to the polls on Oct. 27.

This election comes in the shadow of multiple LDP factions’ secret slush fund scandal. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said of the reason for the dissolution, “We are asking the people whether they have confidence in the new Cabinet.”

However, meetings of the Diet budget committees promised during the LDP leadership race in September never materialized, and the lower house was dissolved just eight days after the prime minister took office. Voters are being asked to make their decision without sufficient information, making it appear as though the calling of the election was driven by party interests.

Ignoring the people

It is evident that when the name on the door of the prime minister’s office door switched from Fumio Kishida to Shigeru Ishiba, it was just another example of the old-fashioned approach of trying to weather political storms by changing leadership Cabinet whenever support rates drop – – a practice that has made a mockery of regime change.

Yet public distrust in politics has reached a point where it can no longer be erased with superficial responses. The slush fund scandal revealed the LDP’s true nature — maintaining its political power and party strength using black-box stashes of money.

In the scandal, factional accounting officers funneled excess income from fundraising party event tickets back to legislators without reporting it in political funding reports. Eleven individuals, including those responsible for factions’ accounting, are being criminalized.

Additionally, senior LDP members have been able to use “policy activity funds,” which are not required to be publicly disclosed, as a personal source of power — another issue that has drawn criticism.

The LDP’s political base has been solidified through this kind of corrupt financial behavior. Since returning to power in 2012, the LDP has continued to govern with an increasingly autocratic attitude, relying on its numerical strength to brush aside parliamentary discussions.

Prime ministers like Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga notably refused to listen to opposing views. This was exemplified by the forceful enactment of security legislation that allowed Japan the right to exercise limited collective self-defense, even though it sharply divided public opinion.

However Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who led the LDP to victory in the general election three years ago, initially aimed to change the style of government by advocating “attentive and tolerant politics.”, his continued reliance on superficial explanations regarding important policies and scandals led him to lose public support.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Abe brought to light the deep connections between the LDP and the Unification Church (formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification). There are suspicions that policy decisions were distorted in exchange for the group’s cooperation in elections .

The central issue in this general election will be how each party confronts the problem of “money in politics,” which has been the root cause of many of these issues. And while the Political Funds Control Act was amended during the last ordinary Diet session, many loopholes remain, and comprehensive reform has been postponed.

During the party leaders’ debate in the Diet on Oct. 9, Prime Minister Ishiba reiterated his reluctance to reopen investigations into the slush fund scandal. He also brushed off concerns about the opaque use of policy activity funds, saying they would likely be used in the general election. This raises doubts about the seriousness of the new Cabinet’s reform efforts.

Calling on the opposition to unite against secret funds

The strategy of the opposition parties will also be scrutinized.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has declared that “a change of government is the greatest political reform.” However, the government of the now defunct Democratic Party of Japan collapsed in a little over three years due to internal strife and policy confusion, exposing its lack of governing capability. This betrayal of public expectations helped pave the way for the long LDP rule that has followed.

The upcoming election will test whether the opposition parties can unite under an “anti-corruption, anti-LDP” banner and cooperate effectively. While the parties differ on individual policy issues, they share many common positions regarding political reform, such as the abolition of policy activity funds.

The key to this election will be whether the opposition can cooperate to take on former LDP members implicated in the slush fund scheme.

The LDP leadership has decided not to officially endorse 12 implicated individuals. Even those they do endorse will not be allowed to run concurrently in the proportional representation bloc.

The opposition should unify behind candidates running against the LDP and set the stage for public sentiment over the corruption scandal to be reflected in the election results.

Public distrust in politics continues to grow, yet existing political parties have not been able to provide a viable alternative. Recent elections have seen a sharp decline in voter turnout.

Ishiba has acknowledged the current situation as “a crisis for Japanese politics as a whole.” However, what is now required from both the ruling and opposition parties is not just words but a clear blueprint for reforms that the public can believe in, as well as the execution of actions to regain trust.