New Centrist Party launched with 165 lawmakers
The Centrist Reform Alliance, a new Japanese political party, was formally launched on Thursday (January 22) with 165 House of Representatives lawmakers from the two founding opposition forces the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, a former ally of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Almost all CDP and Komeito lawmakers in the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, joined the new party, making it the main opposition party in the country.
Of the 165 members, 144 are from the CDP and 21 from Komeito.
The party aims to become the largest force in the Lower House through the February 8 general election, which will be held after the chamber is dissolved on Friday, in a bid to take power from the ruling coalition of the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party.
Former CDP chief Yoshihiko Noda, 68, and Komeito head Tetsuo Saito, 73, assumed the positions of co-leaders of the new centrist party, while Jun Azumi, 64, and Hiromasa Nakano, 48, former secretaries-general of the CDP and Komeito respectively, became co-secretaries-general.
The Centrist Reform Alliance has decided to field 227 candidates in the election, 199 for single-seat constituencies and 28 for the proportional representation system.
Incumbent lawmakers from Komeito will not run in the single-seat constituency system, but are expected to be placed high on the new party's list for the proportional representation system.
They include Saito, who will stand for election in the Chugoku western bloc of the proportional representation system.
The party's policy pledges for the election, announced Thursday, include permanently abolishing the consumption tax on food and providing housing rent allowances.
It aims to eliminate the tax on food by the autumn.
"Our passion is second to none, although the election will be held in cold weather," Noda said at an inaugural convention for the new party, while criticising Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's decision to dissolve the Lower House. "I would like new party members to unite for the election."
"We need to expand the circle of moderate centrists to protect everyday life and peace," Saito said, "I will bet my political career and the 61-year history of Komeito on helping all our candidates win seats."
As financial resources to cover the consumption tax elimination for food, the new party proposed using existing government funds and budget surpluses and creating new government funds.
The party proposed abolishing the retirement age system and adopting a four-day work week.
It vowed to tighten regulations on political donations from corporations and other organisations and set up a third-party group to monitor political funds.
In addition, the campaign platform calls for introducing a selective dual surname system for married couples, an issue Takaichi is reluctant to address, and limiting the prime minister's exclusive authority to dissolve the Lower House.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
