<figure id="attachment_221053" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 4032px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-221053"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9cc862b2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/12/IMG_9993.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-221053" class="wp-caption-text">Junya Ogawa, Chairman of the Policy Research Council. The issues are complex, and the answers are not easy,&#8221; he said, trailing off.</figcaption></figure>
 We need to re-examine the various aspects of the CDP and make a fresh start. However, the time given to the executive committee is too limited, and I believe that next July&#8217;s Upper House election is the first deadline.
In an interview, Junya Ogawa, a member of the Diet who has been appointed as the chairman of Rikken&#8217;s policy research committee, said, &#8220;We must revive the party at all costs.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<h2>We have to revitalize the party at all costs.</h2>
The CDP was severely damaged in the last general election of the House of Representatives.
Hirofumi Hirano, who had been elected seven times as the party&#8217;s representative and chairman of the campaign committee, lost his election in Osaka&#8217;s 11th district. Kiyomi Tsujimoto, the party&#8217;s deputy leader who was also elected seven times, lost her seat in Osaka&#8217;s 10th district. She lost her seat in the House of Representatives without being able to revive her proportional representation.
In addition, Ichiro Ozawa, who had been elected 17 times, Kishiro Nakamura, former minister of construction, who had been elected 14 times, and Banri Kaieda, former leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, also lost their seats in a flurry of elections. With the defeat of these veterans who had held leadership positions in the party, it can be said that the spiritual pillar of the No. 1 opposition party has been lost.
The CDP, which was badly wounded, had Yukio Edano step down as its representative and elected Kenta Izumi as its leader after an election. There is now a sense of urgency and tension to revive the party at any cost.
Tomoko Yoshino, president of RENGO, Rikken&#8217;s supporting body, said, &#8220;The Rikken Democratic Party is a coalition of citizens.
 The fact that the CDP fought together with the Civic Federation and the Communist Party meant that union votes had nowhere to go.
There were 7.04 million votes for the RENGO organization. After the election, Mr. Yoshino visited the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), where he met with Vice President Taro Aso and Secretary General Toshimichi Mogi. This may have been a demonstration to show that even without the CDP, the Council of Government Workers can still function. The CDP must have felt a sense of desolation.
<h2>I will run as fast as I can for the next six months.</h2>
A fresh start depends on this man.
Junya Ogawa, the 50-year-old chairman of the party&#8217;s policy research committee, has been appointed to take charge of compiling the party&#8217;s policies for the people.
 In the election, the opposition parties are divided into four factions. The election was a small battle, like an election within the LDP&#8217;s 100 faction. The public opinion also regarded the debate on the representative election as weak. I am keenly aware that this is the &#8220;eyes of the people&#8221; on the CDP today.
 In just six months or so, until the Upper House elections next July, the CDP must do everything in its power to become a political party that voters will vote for.
Ogawa, who has begun to run under an extreme state of tension that he has never experienced before, is expected to have the ability to drive the party forward without stopping. No matter how tired he gets, he must keep leading.
 He must make the first opposition party into a single entity. We have to make the first opposition party into a single entity,&#8221; he said. &#8220;All sorts of things are running through my mind that we have to do, such as raising the party&#8217;s stature, discussing with the Coalition, making the party&#8217;s pledge, building relations with the Communist Party, and talking with voters. Since the election, up to today, and from here on out, I have been in a state of extreme tension that I have never experienced before. We have to show the people that the CDP has been reborn from a party that was &#8220;all about opposing the government. It&#8217;s not something that can be easily answered.
Ogawa&#8217;s eyes were bloodshot and he could not hide his fatigue. Ogawa&#8217;s eyes were bloodshot and he could not hide his exhaustion, repeating over and over again, &#8220;It&#8217;s not easy. But there was no time to pause.
 We have to present a policy that shows that Rikken is a political party with firm roots in the earth.
On the 18th, he held an &#8220;open-air dialogue meeting&#8221; in Naha City, and then made a one-day trip to record for a TV station . On the 21st, he held another rally in Tokyo. On the 21st, he will hold another rally in Tokyo. He says he wants to have a thorough &#8220;dialogue with citizens.
 He said he wanted to have a thorough &#8220;dialogue with citizens.　Isn&#8217;t there something that needs to be changed?　I think we have to keep asking these questions to the voters. I want to absorb all of those voices and present them with better policies.&#8221;
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
The extraordinary Diet session was closed after the Fumio Kishida administration passed a supplementary budget of 35.98 trillion yen, the largest ever. The review of &#8220;document and transportation expenses&#8221; has been postponed, and the issue of the rewriting of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism statistics remains vague.
From the perspective of the current CDP, Prime Minister Kishida&#8217;s back may seem far away. Nevertheless, the people of Japan continue to await the awakening of the CDP to see what it will say and do when it continues to engage in dialogue with the people and, after suffering as much as it has, comes up with an answer. If it fails to live up to these expectations, there will be no tomorrow for the CDP.
<figure id="attachment_221054" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1846px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-221054"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b057a7ec"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/12/55384d9e6d884a6974d55b7634d2a53d.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-221054" class="wp-caption-text">I want to have more dialogues.&#8221; At the blue sky rally, I was impressed by the way he carefully answered questions from those gathered.</figcaption></figure>

 Takashi Hashimoto

 The CDP is a political party that needs to re-examine many things and make a fresh start. However, the time given to the executive committee is too limited, and I believe that the House of Councillors election in July next year is the first deadline.

Junya Ogawa, as Chairman of the Rikken Policy Research Council, talks about his determination to revitalize the party

Access Ranking