post, Ozawa remains widely respected in opposition circles. He is still frequently consulted by opposition party leaders for electoral and campaign strategy against the long-ruling LDP. On 26 April 2019, Ozawa agreed to merge the Liberal Party into the Democratic Party for the People, which in turn merged into the Constitutional Democratic Party in 2020. In the 2021 general election, Ozawa's 53-year-long reign in Iwate Prefecture's local electoral constituencies came to end after he was defeated by LDP opponent Takashi Fujiwara, who beat Ozawa with a 4.1% margin of victory. This came after Ozawa won in 2017 with a 14.84% margin of victory. Nonetheless, he did manage to stay in the House of Representatives through the Tohoku PR block. Views Formerly known as a conservative politician in the LDP, he now takes liberal stances on domestic and international policies. The wide political spectrum in the Democratic Party forced Ozawa to take eclectic approaches, which has become a main source for criticism against him. Aside from his policies, he is also criticised for his aggressive power game tendencies in the reorganisation of Japanese political parties in the 1990s. Some critics accuse him of being an opportunist, and point to his repeated party movements. His defenders say that in the relatively ideology-free landscape of Japanese politics, it is his adherence to principle that forces him into conflict with others. Constitution Following its surrender on 2 September 1945, the Empire of Japan was deprived of sovereignty by the Allies, and the Meiji Constitution was suspended. During the Occupation of Japan, the Meiji Constitution was replaced by a new document, the postwar Constitution of Japan, which replaced the imperial rule with a form of Western-style liberal democracy. Ozawa claims that the Constitution of Japan is not just a constitution and that it is invalid. Ozawa pointed out Japan's diplomatic disability in international affairs, particularly revealed in the Gulf War in 1990. Foreign relations Ozawa expressed admiration for American democracy and praised Americans for electing Barack Obama as president in an August 2010 speech, but he also labeled Americans as "monocellular" or "simple-minded" (単細胞 tan saibō). In the same speech, Ozawa said, "I don't like British people." Ozawa characterized the War in Afghanistan as an American fight that "had nothing to do with the United Nations or the international community." Ozawa published an article in the leftist monthly political magazine Sekai in October 2007, stating