Seiji Maehara
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| Seiji Maehara | |
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Member of the House of Representatives
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| In office 1993 – - |
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| Constituency | Kyoto 2nd. District (Elected 5th) |
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| Born | April 30, 1962 Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture |
| Political party | Democratic Party of Japan |
| Website | [1] |
Seiji Maehara (前原 誠司 Maehara Seiji; born 30 April 1962) is a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, and a former leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). He is known for expertise in national security and defense and a notable advocate for revising Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. (According to a speech he gave announcing his candidacy to head the DPJ on 14 September 2005, he is in favor of preserving section 1 but deleting section 2 of the Article.)
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[edit] Early life
He was born in Kyoto and attended the Law Faculty of Kyoto University, where he majored in international politics, and quickly entered the world of politics, winning election to the Kyoto Prefectural Assembly in 1991. He was elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the Japan New Party of Morihiro Hosokawa in 1993. In 1994, he left the party and formed the "Democratic Wave" with several other young parliamentarians, but later that year joined the Sakigake Party, which was briefly part of the majority government. In 1998, he joined the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) when it was formed that same year.
As a member of the DPJ he focused on security affairs and often negotiated with the government. In the shadow governments he has served as the Shadow Minister for Security Affairs and Shadow Minister for the Defense Agency.
[edit] Term as DPJ President
After the crushing defeat of the DPJ in the 2005 snap election and the resignation of DPJ leader Katsuya Okada, the elected representatives of the party met to choose a new leader. The two candidates were Naoto Kan and Maehara. Maehara defeated the 58-year-old Kan by a razor-thin count of 96-94 in open balloting. The election could have gone the other way -- two members abstained from voting and two others cast invalid votes. The ballots were cast by party members from both Houses of the Diet. He was appointed on September 17, 2005.
However, Maehara's term as party leader lasted barely half a year. Although he initially led the party's criticism of the Koizumi administration, particularly in regards to connections between LDP lawmakers and scandal-ridden Livedoor, the revelation that a fake email was used to try and establish this link greatly damaged his credibility. The scandal led to the resignation of Representative Hisayasu Nagata and of Maehara as party leader on March 31st. New elections for party leader were held on April 7, in which Ichirō Ozawa was elected President.
[edit] Personal Life
He married his wife Airi (愛里) in June 1995. They have no children. He likes to take a photo of train. He respect Koki Hirota (広田弘毅) and Ryoma Sakamoto (坂本龍馬). His favorite book is "Rakujitumoyu" written by Saburo Siroyama (城山三郎).
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Katsuya Okada |
Leader of the Democratic Party of Japan 2005-2006 |
Succeeded by Ichirō Ozawa |
