April 8, 2010A new political party to be launched Saturday is likely to have a rocky start with no young or mid-level lawmakers having joined the group.
Yoshio Nakagawa, 72, a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member of the House of Councillors, tendered a letter of resignation to LDP Secretary-General Tadamori Oshima on Wednesday so that he could join the new party, which is being established this weekend by former LDP heavyweights.
The new party, "Tachiagare Nippon," or "Stand Up, Japan," will be officially headed by Takeo Hiranuma, 70, an independent House of Representatives member and former trade minister. Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, 71, will assume another position of roughly equal power to Hiranuma's. The name of the party was thought up by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, Yosano revealed.
Two other LDP members, former LDP Acting Secretary-General Hiroyuki Sonoda, 68, and former Transport Minister Takao Fujii, 67, have also expressed their intentions to join the new party. Sonoda has already conveyed his intention to leave the LDP, while Fujii is expected to tender his resignation as early as Thursday.
With Nakagawa on board, the nascent group has managed to secure the five lawmakers required by law to be recognized as a political party.
Although Yosano and the other four founding members previously showed confidence that they could quickly secure more lawmakers, they instead found themselves frustrated by other politicians' reluctance to join the new party.
That reluctance reflects the concern over the unnatural tie-up between Hiranuma, who is known for advocating a return to conservatism, and Yosano, a liberal politician. These concerns led Yoshitada Konoike, former deputy chief Cabinet secretary, to decline Hiranuma's request to join the new party. From the same concerns, two independent Lower House members of Hiranuma's political group refused to follow their leader's footsteps.
The result: the new party will take off with only veteran members, with young and mid-level lawmakers choosing to wait on the sidelines and see how things develop.
Nakagawa was first elected from Hokkaido in the 1998 election for the House of Councillors and is currently serving his second term. He is the uncle of the late former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who passed away last year, and he has close ties to Hiranuma. Due to Nakagawa's age, the LDP had decided not to back him in the Upper House election scheduled for this summer, and he was expected to retire. However, it is now expected that Nakagawa will run in the summer election as a proportional representation candidate for the new party.
Although the new party has managed to secure the necessary members for a launch it will still need to secure a seat in the Diet to be eligible to receive political subsidies from the government in October.
A source close to the new party expressed their concerns over the situation, saying, "We wanted to start the new party with members whose seats are not up for grabs in the upcoming House of Councillors election."
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) April 8, 2010
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