Sanseito Working to Whip Itself into Shape ahead of Diet Session

Tokyo, Sept. 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese upstart political party Sanseito is seeking to shore up its organizational structure ahead of an extraordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, expected to be convened next month. But power remains concentrated in its leader, Sohei Kamiya, an issue that needs to be addressed for its further growth. Sanseito significantly expanded its seat share in the House of Councillors in the July 20 election for the upper chamber of the Diet. This prompted the party to hold training sessions for its first-time lawmakers and create new posts for its Diet members. Kamiya posted about a rookie lawmaker training session chaired by him on X on Sept. 12. The chief spoke mainly about the party’s history, its challenges and what is expected of lawmakers. He also said that he wants to hold more training sessions. On a different day, a mock Diet meeting was held, in which new Sanseito lawmakers asked questions to senior members playing the role of cabinet members. A senior Sanseito official stressed the importance of such training, saying that it would become an issue if the rookies, many of whom have no experience in politics, start to freely speak about what they want without thinking carefully. As a result of the latest Upper House poll, Sanseito increased its seats in the chamber to 15 from two. But the stunning performance created problems such as shortages of staff and secretaries for newly elected member lawmakers. In light of this, the party is mulling creating a new division specializing in fostering personnel. The party is also considering establishing an international division to connect with foreign politicians with similar principles and policies, as well as a think tank for policy research. Meanwhile, Kamiya continues to have sole authority over party management as he also serves as head of the party secretariat. Under Sanseito’s party rules, the head of the secretariat “manages the overall party affairs and supervises operations under jurisdiction,” granting the person strong authority over executing the party’s budgets and giving its endorsements to election candidates. Although new party posts such as secretary-general and Diet affairs chief were decided on Aug. 1, there are no clauses regarding the roles in the party rules. Sanseito has yet to hold a meeting of its executives, causing one senior member to complain, “I don’t know what is going on in the party outside of areas under my responsibility.” On Sept. 8, Yuichiro Kawa, a former member of the prefectural assembly of Ishikawa, central Japan, stepped down as deputy party chief and quit the party’s board while retaining his role as deputy head of the secretariat. But the party rules stipulate that the deputy chief of the secretariat, as well as its chief, must be selected from among board members. When asked about this inconsistency at a press conference the same day, Kamiya said, “There has been a delay in revising the party rules, so we’re preparing to hold an extraordinary party convention (to revamp the rules).” A party source said that Kamiya made this decision alone. The party chief has set a target of winning 30 to 40 seats in the next election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet. Whether this goal can be met partly hinges on how much Sanseito will be able to reduce its reliance on Kamiya, political watchers say. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]