Chinami Nishimura’s Determination to Run for the Representative Election: “I Will Realize a CDP Government in Four Years

The CDP primary election is scheduled for tomorrow, March 30. Compared to the LDP presidential election, which was a fierce and tense power struggle, there is not much difference in the policies espoused by the four candidates, and some people feel that the election is lacking in substance.

In a representative election of a political party that is not in power, it is difficult to convey a sense of reality, no matter how flamboyantly the policies are presented. However, throughout the election period, the public’s attention has gradually been drawn. We cannot go into next year’s Upper House election like this. Representative Yukio Edano resigned in response to the election results, so we must do whatever we can to let the public know what the new CDP looks like.

The rebirth of the No. 1 opposition party is a thornier path than one might imagine. Former Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Nishimura Tomonami, who is running for the post of representative, has drawn up a plan for the party’s revival based on her calm criticism of Edano, the party’s “founder. She began by scrutinizing and reflecting on the campaign policies of the former party leader, and then continued to think through how Rikken could become a national party. It was a determined decision to run for the presidency.

I think that the grassroots political movement was still very, very lacking as a way to strengthen the party management of Mr. Edano and the CDP’s ability to attract votes. We had to go out to the countryside more, get closer to the community, have more discussions, and in this way go deeper into the people.

We had to get a sense of the socially vulnerable and the plight of the people who were forced to suffer as a result of the Covid-19 disaster. The CDP lacked the insight, the ability to take action, and the ability to see the situation firsthand. The CDP may have appeared, to some extent, to be looking at the people from a distance and not being able to get close to their suffering, sadness and anxiety.

This is by no means true, but as a result, I believe that we must take seriously the fact that we were unable to grasp the feelings of the people as a result of the last general election. I believe that it is the responsibility of the CDP to actually meet, talk, hold hands, scoop up the plight of the people, and formulate policies from there. If we don’t do that, we won’t be able to earn the trust of the people as a responsible political party that they can entrust with their government.

What was lacking in the CDP?

Nishimura summed up the situation by saying that the CDP lacked realism.

He said that in order to destroy the perception that the CDP is the party of Yukio Edano and that Yukio Edano is the party of the CDP, and to sublimate the CDP into a true national party, it must come into contact with the “reality” of people’s lives.

He said, “We must thoroughly scrutinize the policies of the ruling party, which are muddying the waters with a few benefits for those who are somehow making ends meet today and tomorrow, and present them with effective policies.

Most recently, Prime Minister Kishida has been talking about distribution, but it is not enough and I wonder if it is really reaching those in need. 100,000 yen. After two years of the spread of the new Covid-19, the benefit was only 100,000 yen. How are we supposed to make a living?

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that the number of suicides in 2020 has reached 21,081. The number of male suicides is on the decline, but the number of female suicides has increased. It is not hard to imagine that the economic hardship caused by the Covid-19 disaster was behind this.

The new CDP, as Nishimura calls it, is serious about facing the people. The key word, he said, is “diversity.

–What is the key to the rebirth of the CDP, and what is “diversity”?

By accurately grasping the voices of local communities and working with those in need to find solutions, we will maximize the potential and growth of local communities. This is the kind of political campaign the CDP must undertake. The development of a national political movement that involves the people as well as the labor union vote. In this way, we have to gain enough votes to crush the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. In this sense, it doesn’t matter if the CDP is an afterthought.

If the spirit of “altruism,” of serving the people, permeates the party, it will naturally revitalize itself. If I am elected as the party’s representative, I want to make it that kind of party. And I will take power in the general election in four years.

Contrary to most people’s expectations, the CDP failed to win the general election. Nishimura’s sense of crisis is overwhelmingly heavier than that of any other candidate. Tomonami Nishimura aims to become a representative only to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people. To that end, she wants to win at all costs.