<p>Former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai (85) announced his decision not to run in the next Lower House election. Former Education Minister Tadashi Shioya (74), former Education Minister Hirofumi Shimomura (69), former METI Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura (61), former House of Councillors Secretary General Hiroshige Seko (61), and other former Abe faction officials are being considered for punishment beyond &#8220;unauthorization.</p>
<figure id="attachment_366303" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366303" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="374b12f9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/eb7267377e55657f7f0facc32d21839f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366303" class="wp-caption-text"> Kenta Izumi&#8217;s centripetal force is being questioned even within the party itself.</figcaption></figure>
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<p> There are even whispers of a lower house election to be held this year, but whether the opposition parties will be able to significantly increase their number of seats in the House of Representatives in the face of the LDP&#8217;s disastrous performance is hardly a prospect to be heard. One of the opposition party reporters for a national newspaper sighs.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The opposition parties have a great chance to make their presence felt in this &#8220;enemy&#8217;s loss,&#8221; but they have not been able to produce any notable results, led by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and The Japan Innovation Party. If a general election were to be held, the LDP would probably lose some seats due to distrust of the government, but it is unlikely to be a significant reduction. The Japan Innovation Party&#8217;s long-held dream of an LDP majority is a pipe dream. Not only the people of Japan but also the reporters who are covering the situation on the ground are feeling the despair of not being able to count on the existing political parties,&#8221; he said.</span></p>
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<p> In fact, walking around Nagata-cho, one hears similar opinions from within the opposition parties. In particular, members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the leading opposition party, are not very clear on the issue. A mid-level member of the party lamented.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At a plenary session on March 1, Kazunori Yamai, 62, a member of the House of Representatives, gave a two-hour, 54-minute speech in order to delay the vote on the budget bill in the House of Representatives. The situation has even boomeranged with the revelation that Ken Noma, 65, a member of the House of Representatives, had failed to report his party ticket income of 500,000 yen in his income and expenditure report. The biggest problem is the low centripetal force of the current executive committee. In particular, many young people question the leadership of Kenta Izumi, 49, the president. The current situation is that the party is being managed under the leadership of Katsuya Okada (70), secretary general, and Jun Azumi (62), chairman of the national opposition committee, and there is no obvious candidate for the next leader.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_366304" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366304" style="width: 5760px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a1ed4ddf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/3bb3cc8922907d5523b2d35d23201ee3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366304" class="wp-caption-text"> Former party members have been suing the party, and Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura has been in a difficult situation since she took office.</figcaption></figure>
<p> This mid-career member also questioned the election measures under the current system.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There are voices within the party that want to see opposition parties fight together and cooperate in elections. This is a sign of the party&#8217;s sense of crisis that it cannot win elections if things continue as they are now, but Representative Izumi&#8217;s allergy to the Communist Party is considerable. In particular, he even has a personal grudge against former chairman Kazuo Shii (69). I hope that his attitude will soften with the replacement of Tomoko Tamura (58) as the new chairperson, but in any case, there is a limit to how much we can fight on our own.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The Japan Innovation Party has also turned a corner."></div>
<p>At the same time, support for The Japan Innovation Party, which aims to become the leading opposition party in the next lower house election, has been sluggish. The pros and cons of holding the Expo and the many scandals involving members of the Japan Restoration Association are said to be contributing factors. A young member of The Japan Innovation Party tweeted.</p>
<figure id="attachment_366306" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366306" style="width: 2559px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0882e57d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/c833d468bc3037c81c3ca2290b266cb6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366306" class="wp-caption-text"> Some have called the insistence of Senator Hayao Onkita a stand-up act.</figcaption></figure>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The Expo has not led to the expansion of the party&#8217;s popularity. Instead of expanding the party&#8217;s popularity, I am concerned that the reaction outside of my hometown, Osaka, has been very poor. New concerns have also emerged. The party may face a headwind from the proposal by Mr. Hayao Onkita, 40, chairman of the policy research committee, that in principle the elderly should be required to pay 30% of their medical expenses over the counter in order to secure funding for social security costs. With the declining birthrate and aging population, there is no doubt that this is a necessary policy for the future. However, was it necessary to blurt it out at this point in time? I am afraid of a backlash from the elderly, who will account for a large weight in the election. I also feel that there is a strong element of personal performance by Mr. Ondokita, who is saddled with the House of Representatives election, and I highly doubt that he is properly working with the upper management. &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;</span></p>
<p> In a March poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun and NTV, 23% of all respondents said they support the LDP. Next in line were the Rikken (8%) and The Japan Innovation Party (5%), with as many as 51% of respondents saying they do not support any political party. And 61% of respondents said they do not appreciate the opposition&#8217;s handling of political fund parties in the Diet. The number of respondents who have no expectations for the current opposition party is 78%.</p>
<p> It is obvious that as long as the opposition is weak, there is no hope for sound politics. However, it is hard to envision a future in which opposition parties gain public support and embark on political reform in Japan.</p>
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 AFRO

 As the LDP is rocked by the back-funding issue, the critical period for the opposition parties continues. However, momentum toward a change of government is not building at all. We take a closer look behind the scenes.

Even from within the party, some are harshly calling it a &#8220;performance&#8221;&#8230; &#8220;Too bad&#8221; that the opposition parties cannot make a breakthrough due to the issue of the LDP&#8217;s slush fund.

Even from within the party, some are harshly calling it a “performance”… “Too bad” that the opposition parties cannot make a breakthrough due to the issue of the LDP’s slush fund.

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