Seiji Maehara
Seiji Maehara 前原 誠司 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 17 September 2010 – 8 March 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Naoto Kan |
| Preceded by | Katsuya Okada |
| Succeeded by | Yukio Edano (Acting) |
| Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism | |
| In office 16 September 2009 – 17 September 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Yukio Hatoyama Naoto Kan |
| Preceded by | Kazuyoshi Kaneko |
| Succeeded by | Sumio Mabuchi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 April 1962 Kyoto, Japan |
| Political party | Democratic Party (1998–present) |
| Other political affiliations | New Party (1992–1994) Sakigake Party (1994–1998) |
| Alma mater | Kyoto University |
| Website | Official website |
Seiji Maehara (前原 誠司, Maehara Seiji, born April 30, 1962) is the former Foreign Minister of Japan and a neoconservative legislator. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, Maehara is also a former leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). He advocates revising Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. (According to a speech he gave announcing his candidacy to head the DPJ on September 14, 2005, he is in favor of preserving section 1 but deleting section 2 of the Article.)
On September 16, 2009, he assumed the office of Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He retained the post in the cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, but was moved to Foreign Minister in September 2010. He resigned from the cabinet in March 2011 after he acknowledged receiving illegal donations from a South Korean resident living in Japan.[1]
Maehara is viewed as a "China hawk"[2][3] and a proponent of close ties with the United States.[4][5]
Early life
He was born in Kyoto and attended the Law Faculty of Kyoto University, where he majored in international politics, and quickly won 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.
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 was short lived. 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 31. New elections for party leader were held on April 7, in which Ichirō Ozawa was elected President.
Personal life
He married his wife Airi (愛里) in June 1995; they have no children. He likes to take photographs of trains as a hobby.
Resignation as Foreign Secretary
In March 2011, Maehara resigned as foreign secretary after a scandal emerged that he had accepted political donations from a foreign national, specifically a South Korean woman running a restaurant in Kyoto city who he had known since junior high school.[6] Accepting donations from a foreign national intentionally is illegal in Japan to prevent influence by outsiders.[7] When resigning he apologised to the nation for only holding the post for 6 months and for "provoking distrust" over his political funding.[7] According to the Japan Times the resignation will cause Japanese relations with the United States to weaken.[8] The Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, stated that they were ready to maintain a good relationship with whoever succeeds Maehara in the post.[9]
See also
References
- ^ "Maehara announces resignation over illegal donations from foreigner". Mainichi Daily News. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ "Kan replaces over half of his Cabinet". Kyodo News. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ "Japan's new foreign minister gets tough on China". Associated Press. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- ^ "Factbox: Japan's new foreign minister Maehara". Reuters. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ "Japan's Premier Shuffles Cabinet". The New York Times. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ "When will Japan's political musical chairs stop?". MSNBC. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Japan Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara resigns". BBC. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ "DPJ loses potential successor to Kan". Japan Times. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ "China ready to maintain good working relations with next Japanese FM whoever he is: Yang Jiechi". Xinhua. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.