Leadership Change in Liberal Democratic Party’s Osaka Branch, Featuring Nobuyuki Baba of Japan Innovation Party

Criticism of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) shows no signs of stopping. According to surveys by major media outlets, their support rates have uniformly declined. This backdrop includes numerous problems arising from the Osaka-Kansai Expo. Moreover, there’s the agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party regarding amendments to the Political Funds Control Law.

Explaining this is a national newspaper’s political desk reporter.

“During negotiations over the amendment to the Political Funds Control Law, Nippon Ishin was effectively rolled over by the LDP. Despite this, party leader Nobuyuki Baba (59) and Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (43) were visibly satisfied. Opposition party leaders were quite taken aback by this. Some legislators are openly critical of how Baba repeatedly criticizes the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.”

“Baba has made his stance against the CDPJ very clear, saying things like ‘We must crush the CDPJ,’ ‘Don’t vote for the CDPJ,’ and ‘This party is unnecessary for Japan.’ However, they suffered a complete defeat to the CDPJ in the April by-elections. There is widespread concern within the party about the upcoming general elections. Insiders from Nippon Ishin no Kai are leaking the internal situation.”

“Baba is particularly passionate about constitutional revision, and after meetings of the Constitutional Review Committee, he invariably explodes with anger towards the CDPJ. However, judging from the by-election results, his criticism of the CDPJ backfired like a boomerang. There are voices within the party saying ‘We need to somehow stop Baba’s criticism of the CDPJ.'”

Within Nippon Ishin, candidate selection is almost entirely handled by Secretary-General Fujita alone, and there’s growing anticipation for ‘Fujita leadership.’

“Some believe that Baba cannot win in the general elections with his strategy of criticizing other parties and losing support. Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura (49) is likely to leave politics after the Expo ends and his term expires. There are factions hoping for rejuvenation under Fujita’s leadership.”

There are also dark clouds over Tokyo Ishin no Kai. In the highly watched Tokyo 15th district by-election, Yui Kanazawa (33) finished third with a gap of over 20,000 votes. Policy Research Committee Chairman Shun Onkita (40) summed it up as “Tokyo Ishin no Kai’s lack of strength,” but there were reportedly considerable internal issues.

Speaking with a dismayed expression, a Tokyo Ishin no Kai insider says, “The fact that we couldn’t even field a candidate in the Tokyo governor election reflects our current situation.”