Hoping to Receive Lost Votes

Trying to receive the votes critical on current politics, some deserters from Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Party or smaller ones are going to establish a new party on Tuesday. The name of the party is supposed to be Party of Hope. The biggest hope for them so far is joining of popular governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. Without concrete consensus on basic policies, the party is going to raise as much candidates as they can in the election of House of Representatives planned next month.

A Representative, Masaru Wakasa, who left LDP last month to support Koike in the gubernatorial election of Tokyo, and former Minister of Environment in Democratic Party of Japan administration, Goshi Hosono, who left DP last month, are making close discussion for establishing new party. The name of Party of Hope was inspired by the name of political academy led by Koike, Academy of Hope. They believe that voters will have a good image, if their new party obviously connected to Koike.

Some lawmakers who are disappointed to the existing parties hope to join it. Following Hosono, two lawmakers, Hirofumi Ryu and Yu-ichi Goto, left DP this month to join new party. DP removed them from the list of party lawmakers. Former State Minister of Defense, Akihisa Nagashima, who left DP frustrated with cooperation with Japan Communist Party in the election, and a lawmaker Takatane Kiuchi, who left DP earlier, will join the new party.

The deserters include lawmakers in LDP. State Minister of Cabinet Office, Mineyuki Fukuda announced his intention to leave LDP and join the new party on Sunday. The President of Party for Japanese Kokoro, Kyoko Nakayama, is also joining. With participation of conservative lawmakers, including ultra-right Nakayama, the new party seems like leaning right side.

Party of Hope is going to raise as much candidates as they can. Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama would be the main battlefield for them. While Koike’s new regional party, Tokyoite First, was successful in the election of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, it is still not clear whether the new party will accumulate victories in the metropolitan area, because Komeito will not be the election partner this time.

It is likely that the new party will collect votes that are not satisfied with the politics led by Abe. However, the history of third parties, including Your Party or Japan Restoration Party, was a series of failures in implementing their policy. Party of Hope has not coordinated actual policy, except such an eccentric one as introducing unicameral system. The party does not look like sustainable.