Japan’s CRA Aims to Become Constructive Opposition Party

Tokyo, April 14 (Jiji Press)–The major Japanese opposition Centrist Reform Alliance on Tuesday discussed a draft plan to revamp its image from one focused on criticizing the government to one that is a constructive opposition party emphasizing policy proposals. The draft plan was presented by the party leadership in a meeting of member lawmakers to summarize the CRA’s massive defeat in February’s election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. The proposed shift reflected the fact that the Democratic Party for the People and Team Mirai, which are considered constructive opposition parties, are gaining support mainly among working-age voters. The CRA leadership acknowledged that the party had failed to dispel the perception that it was formed solely for electoral purposes. The CRA was formed by Lower House lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito ahead of the February election. Assuming that the party could secure a certain number of seats by simply adding the supporter bases of the CDP and Komeito was the “biggest miscalculation,” the leadership said, finding that this had led to some independent voters who supported the CDP drifting away and the CRA failing to win over supporters of other opposition parties. Placing party members from Komeito high on the CRA’s proportional representation candidate list triggered a backlash, the leadership said, as this was seen negatively as back-scratching between the CDP and Komeito for electoral purposes. It also called for the CDP and Komeito, which remain active in the House of Councillors, the upper Diet chamber, to merge promptly, saying, “It is difficult to revamp the image as long as (the three parties) are not united.” The leadership analyzed that election tactics that directly criticized the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, likely backfired amid her cabinet’s high approval ratings, and called for setting up an internal task force and putting forward signature policies that directly affect citizens’ lives. “Drastic party reform” is essential to rebuild the CRA, the draft added, mentioning the possibility of changing the party name and the need for a generational change. It also sought improved social media outreach. After the meeting, the CRA held an online hearing with unsuccessful candidates from the February election. Party executives outlined plans to start providing about 30 defeated candidates with 400,000 yen per month from May as political activity funds. The CRA plans to increase the number of fund recipients to around 70 by the end of the year. The party plans to adopt a document summarizing the election defeat shortly after the Golden Week holiday period through early May. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]