Collecting Candidates from Everywhere

After deliberate consideration between the leaders, Party of Hope released 192 names of the ^nd. 110 out of them are affiliated to Democratic Party. It is extremely strange for a national election to have such a great number of candidates whose party affiliation is different from their party registration for the election. Careless decision of joining other populist party made by DP President Seiji Maehara caused this confusion.

candidate for general election of House of Representatives scheduled on October 22

Although Party of Hope has been preparing for raising candidates in each electoral district, the effort is mostly limited to Tokyo area where President Yuriko Koike sits at the governor’s seat. For the party to achieve enough seats for taking majority in the House, it has to rely on the party basis of Democratic Party. 110 candidates from DP are contributing to that purpose, leaving their original party behind.

The original candidates of Party of Hope amount to 74. While the party raised 23 candidates out of all 25 districts in Tokyo, it refrained from sending their candidates to Osaka. It expects cooperation with Japan Restoration Party that has strength in Osaka area. With same expectation, the party will not raise candidates in 9 districts where Komeito has hopeful candidates. Making clear contrast, Party of Hope will raise its candidates in the districts that have candidates from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

So, what is the norm of the strategy? Party of Hope makes its attitude clear that it will support the power for constitutional amendment and shows hostile action against who are negative in changing the Constitution. In other words, Maehara dissolved DP to integrate the power for constitutional amendment. They simply want to destroy Constitution of Japan.

According to a report of Mainichi Shimbun, CDPJ is going to raise 50 or more candidates. Liberal lawmakers in DP consecutively announced their intention to join CDPJ this week. The biggest supporting organization of DP, Japan Trade Union Confederation, is supporting CDPJ. “The Cabinet that had to be bound by the Constitution unilaterally changed accumulated interpretation,” appealed CDPJ President Yukio Edano about controversial new security legislation. “We need to change the unconstitutional law as soon as possible.”

Liberal Democratic Party accuses reform of the opposite parties as causeless strategy for survival. “It is regretful to hear stories of one party to join another or lawmakers to go somewhere for coming election. New boom produces nothing,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But, LDP looks like left behind of broad quagmire of the opposite parties.