Voters Show Mixed Reactions to New Centrist Party’s Stump Speeches

Tokyo, Jan. 25 (Jiji Press)–Audiences showed varied reactions to stump speeches throughout Japan by prospective candidates of the Centrist Reform Alliance, created by former rival parties just before Friday’s dissolution of the House of Representatives for a snap election. On the day after the dissolution, the new party, formed by two oppositions forces–the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, took to the streets in an effort to get its policies across ahead of the imminent election of the all-important lower chamber of the country’s parliament, which will take place on Feb. 8, only 16 days after the dissolution, the shortest such period since the end of World War II. Yoshihiko Noda, co-chief of the new party, stood atop a campaign vehicle bearing a brand-new blue sign displaying the party’s name in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, declaring, “We will support middle-income and low-income earners based on the principle of putting ordinary people first.” A 77-year-old unemployed woman from the same ward, who had previously supported the CDP, listened to Noda’s speech with a look of disbelief, saying: “I never really liked Komeito. It’s just an election-focused party. How long do you think it will last?” Meanwhile, Tota Matsui, a 29-year-old office worker from Tokyo’s Nakano Ward, positively evaluated the new party’s formation, saying, “I think they managed to come together in a way that both parties could accept.” Naoki Harada, a former Komeito member running for the new party in the proportional representation system’s southern Kanto bloc in eastern Japan, gave street speeches near train stations in the city of Yokohama, south of Tokyo. “I finally got used to saying the new party name without messing it up,” he said, drawing laughter. However, a 58-year-old female public servant from Yokohama expressed discomfort with the party name, saying, “The new party’s compromise pledges feel awkward. I can’t choose anyone (to vote for) this time.” An 18-year-old high school student from Yokohama, facing his first election since gaining the right to vote, said as he checked the new party’s basic policies on his smartphone, “This election leaves no time to compare policies. I don’t think novelty alone will resonate with young people.” In a speech in Sendai in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Miyagi, Jun Azumi, co-secretary-general of the Centrist Reform Alliance, sought understanding for the party’s founding, saying, “We’ve reached this day through policy debates.” Over 100 people gathered for the speech, with chants of “Centrist, centrist!” erupting at times. Criticism also emerged. An 80-year-old man who had supported the CDP since the era of the former Democratic Party of Japan, a predecessor of the CDP, said, “I can’t support them anymore.” A male company employee in his 50s, a Japanese Communist Party supporter who voted for the CDP in last year’s House of Councillors election, in which the two parties cooperated, also expressed anger, saying: “The JCP and the CDP had been working together as opposition coalition. The CDP compromising with Komeito is disappointing.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]