Foreigner Suffrage Bill Unlikely to Pass

First off, I think it is best for me to make clear that I am not from Japan, I have never been to Japan, and I don’t get much news about Japan. I am not aware of the benefits conferred, and limits set by a Permanent Residency. As such, I may miss a lot facts.

What I can only give is my opinion. Regarding this issue, what I know so far is that some Japanese lawmakers are considering to grant permanent foreign residents voting rights in local elections.

Now, my position is that only nationals should be allowed to vote. Central to this issue is the idea of the “vote”.

Now, what exactly is the vote? To be given the right to vote, is the same as being given the right to exercise power, and to decide for yourself and for the whole. To have a vote is to mean that you (and the majority) can then impose your wills on the minority. To have the privilege to vote means that you have the capability to steer your nation or locality into whatever future you want it to have. To have a vote, to emphasize, is to have power. And giving power to foreigners, although, permanent residents, goes against the grain of the sovereignty of the state.

This is the reason as to why voting is usually reserved for nationals only. Nationals should only be the ones to have a say as to their country or locality’s future. As mentioned a while ago, the idea of the vote is tied to the idea of the sovereignty of the state, in that only it’s citizens should be allowed to have a say as to how to run things. A state is sovereign and (ideally) would not allow foreign states (or citizens) to dictate to it as to what it should do. Giving a vote to a foreigner in a way would have the effect of diluting that sovereignty which is definitely detrimental.

Furthermore, corollary to the idea that to have a vote is to have power, should permanent residents be given the right to vote, they might as well be given the right to run for (in this case local) office. If a person has been granted the vote, then it’s the same as granting him and recognizing that person as a possible representative. If that person can represent himself and decide for himself and for others(the minority), why not let him run for office, get the mandate of the people, and decide for others? Unless specifically barred by law of course. There is merely a very thine line between being a mere voter, and running for office. Not only will some people find this unpalatable, it will once again cause the dilution of national sovereignty.

Now onto the sinking boat metaphor. The main assumption made to make this metaphor is that nationals have more to lose than PRs, and that nationals have the best interests of their country/ locality at heart. On the flipside, it also makes the assumption that non nationals don’t have the best interests of the state or locality at heart. We all know however, that these are not necessarily true. As was mentioned, PRs are as well deeply rooted in Japan as well, and consider it as their home. However, no one can read minds and intentions, no one really knows if another person is sincere or not. As such, it would be better to leave the votes with the citizens, basing on the assumption that nationals will take better care of their own locality/ country. Not necessarily true? Yes, but then again, we then return to the issue of sovereignty.

Furthermore, the idea of “taking care of your own” would also come up. In that despite the fact PRs are already rooted in Japan, they (should) still have their country of nationality looking out for them. Japan or any other host country would of course try to guarantee their safety, but providing suffrage is already a bit too much.

All in all, what I can say is that it does not matter if a person has grown up in the host country, has stayed there for years, is now deeply rooted there etc. it does not change the fact that he is not a citizen, and as such she should not have the right to vote. It sounds cruel, yes, but that’s the way I see it. If she truly wants to take part in the political process, then he should make his allegiances clear and have himself naturalized. The fact that people don’t want to have themselves naturalized puts a question mark on there sincerity.

Sorry for being long winded. I hope this clarifies my opinion.

I am not certain as to how other countries run their affairs, but where I stay, only “natural born citizens” are allowed to run for the higher offices of the legislature and the executive. I think naturalized citizens can run for local elections though. But I think that most of the time, only citizens get the right to vote. If the opposite is true, then I get the idea that that particular country would probably have a very large immigrant (or is it migrant?) population from overseas.