KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2017 - 14:17 | All

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Wednesday her new party aims to "reset" Japanese politics by operating free from the influence of established interests ahead of a lower house election next month.

Standing alongside lawmakers who joined the "Kibo no To" (Party of Hope) at a Tokyo press conference to mark its founding, Koike said the "tolerant, reform-minded conservative party" will field as many candidates as possible nationwide in the House of Representatives election slated for Oct. 22.

"I am starting this party of hope today along with my friends who share this sense of crisis: that if we don't reset Japan now, we may not be able to fully protect our international competitiveness and national security," she told the press conference.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced earlier in the week that he will dissolve the lower house for a general election as soon as it convenes on Thursday.

Goshi Hosono, a lower house member who left the Democratic Party last month to establish the new party with Koike and 13 other lawmakers, said its policies will focus on "open-minded" reform and conservatism.

The party will develop a "realistic" foreign policy within the country's pacifist principles, work for a society that empowers all regardless of gender or age, and promote the "wise" spending of tax revenues, Hosono said.

It remains to be seen whether the party will pledge to freeze a planned hike in Japan's consumption tax in October 2019 from 8 percent to 10 percent.

Hosono said the new party aims to eventually take power and form a government. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party currently rules in coalition with the smaller Komeito party.

Koike criticized Abe's decision to dissolve the lower house, saying, "During the current situation in North Korea, it can't be good for there to be a political vacuum," in reference to escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula.

While the premier has said he is calling the election to gain a fresh mandate on the use of revenues from the tax hike, as well as his government's handling of the threat from North Korea, the timing appears to be aimed at taking advantage of the current disorganization among opposition parties.

The new party has just a few weeks to prepare its candidates with the aim of fielding 100, while the Diet's current largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, is performing poorly in opinion polls and has lost several members to the Koike camp.

Koike recently held talks with newly installed Democratic Party leader Seiji Maehara and veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the minor opposition Liberal Party, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

The Democratic Party is split on whether to work in coordination with the new party or treat it as an adversary, with the conservative-leaning Maehara seeking the former with an eye on merging with the Liberal Party.

Komeito allied with a regional party backed by Koike in July's Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, but it appears committed to sticking with the LDP at the national level.

The secretaries general and other senior members of the LDP and Komeito affirmed at a meeting on Wednesday morning that they will work together in the "tough" lower house election, vowing not to "take it lightly."

The 14 founding members of the new party, who appeared with Koike on Wednesday, include former LDP lawmakers Masaru Wakasa and Mineyuki Fukuda, defectors from the Democratic Party and Kyoko Nakayama, former leader of the tiny conservative Party for Japanese Kokoro.

It was not immediately clear who would lead the new party's activities in the Diet following the election. Koike, who denied any intention to resign as Tokyo governor to engage in national politics, said the party will wait until after the election before designating whom it would back as prime minister in a parliamentary vote.

The party appeared to lean heavily on the popularity that saw former LDP lawmaker Koike sweep the Tokyo gubernatorial election in July last year, opening the press conference with a video showing her leading a group of people out of a dark tunnel into the light.

The Abe administration's top spokesman expressed skepticism on Wednesday about Koike's ability to manage both jobs at once.

"I think it must be rather difficult for the governor, who bears the heavy responsibility of being the leader of the 10 million people (of Tokyo), to serve as the head of a national political party," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

"We want to see what sort of realistic policies (the new party) will put forward under its slogans, and whether all its members will be able to agree with those policies," Suga said.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who was in power for five years through 2006 with the LDP, said Wednesday he does not plan to get involved in the running of the new party but supports its policy of abolishing nuclear power generation.</s>Japan’s main opposition Democratic Party has offered its “full support” to Yuriko Koike’s new political party, adding momentum to the Tokyo governor’s challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in next month’s general election. The DP leadership in a statement on Thursday said it would not field any candidates in the October 22 poll and would allow its members to run under Koike’s Party of Hope banner. Abe on Thursday dissolved parliament’s lower house for an election taking advantage of a fractious DP which has been wrought by internal strife over policy. (Reuters)</s>Yuriko Koike is the current Governor of Tokyo and quite possibly the most interesting thing to happen in Japanese politics in years.

For a start — she's a woman! (Japan doesn't do so well in this department).

Now, she is set to reshape national politics with the formation of a new party and a new attack on the status quo.

In her party's first publicity video she is seen walking past the male old-guard of Japanese politics towards a light.

The slogans read: Do we endure or do we all change this?

On Monday, in the hours before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his intention to dissolve parliament and send the country to the polls, Ms Koike stole the limelight by announcing the name of the cute baby panda born at a Tokyo zoo in June.

Her name is Xiang Xiang, Governor Koike said, adding "this name evokes the idea of fragrance — and it's extremely cute".

People across Japan gushed as the press conference was beamed live across television screens.

Now that she had our attention, Ms Koike had one more thing to add — she had formed a new political party called "Party of Hope".

At first, the party was considered to be merely a slight disruption to Mr Abe's plans to gain a third term in office.

When the ABC asked Tobias Harris, a Japan analyst for Teneo Intelligence and Economy what impact she might have on the election, he said: "Her party looks increasingly capable of gaining at the LDP's [Mr Abe's party's] expense."

But there are whispers Ms Koike may merge her new party with the Democratic Party — the main opposition party in Japan — and present herself as an alternative Prime Minister.

This would mean she would have to step aside from her role as the Governor of Tokyo and nominate for a seat in the lower house of parliament.

If the merger were to take place, this election, which was otherwise going to be about men in dark suits talking about North Korea, could become very interesting.

Governor Koike is making all the right noises for a party platform that might appeal to the disaffected.

On Wednesday, Ms Koike said she would not resign as Tokyo Governor to run for a seat in the lower house.

But we all know that a few hours is a long time in politics, right?</s>A Japanese party being launched by popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is in merger talks with the main opposition Democratic Party, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday, adding uncertainty to the outlook for a general election next month.

TOKYO: Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike on Wednesday formally launched a new party promising conservative reform, stepping up her challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and adding to uncertainty about the outlook for a general election widely expected next month.

But the popular former ruling party lawmaker, who is already upstaging Abe in the media and complicating forecasts, said she herself would not seek a seat in parliament's lower house now.

Abe said on Monday he would call the snap election to reset his mandate, betting that his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and junior coalition party can keep their majority in parliament's lower house, where they hold a two-thirds "super majority".

Abe will dissolve the lower house on Thursday for a vote expected on Oct. 22.

At a news conference launching her "Party of Hope," Koike repeated promises to form a party without ties to vested interests in order to "reset Japan."

"If at this time we don't reset Japan, we won't be able to sufficiently protect our international competitiveness and national security," said Koike, a former defence minister who quit the LDP earlier this year.

There had been speculation that Koike would choose to run in the election herself, but she said she would remain in her position as governor.

Koike's new party is staking out a policy space similar to that of the conservative LDP and the right-wing of the main opposition Democratic Party, a mixture of conservatives and liberals.

But her calls for open government, a freeze on a planned sales tax hike from 2019, an end to nuclear power and a promise to promote diversity give it a more populist tinge.

The Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday that Koike's party was in merger talks with the Democrats and she had met with Democratic Party leader Seiji Maehara on Tuesday for discussions, but Koike made no reference to the issue.

The Nikkei said prospects for a merger were uncertain, since Koike has suggested she was not keen and the move could trigger a split in the Democratic Party. The party has been struggling with single-digit support rates and several members have defected to run for Koike's new party.

The Democrats have also been in talks with the Japanese Communist Party about cooperating to run unified candidates but conservatives, including Maehara, are wary of that strategy.

Koike, 65, defied the LDP to run successfully for the Tokyo governorship a year ago and fielded candidates who routed the LDP in an election for the metropolitan assembly in July.

Koike has said she aimed to push reformist policies, open government and an end to reliance on nuclear power.

She has also called for a freeze on a plan to raise the national sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent in 2019. Abe said he would go ahead with the tax hike and spend some of the revenue on education and child care.

Abe's decision to go to the polls is seen as an effort to take advantage of confusion in the opposition camp and an uptick in his support rates, which have rebounded to around 50 percent amid jitters over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

His support had fallen below 30 percent in July due to suspected cronyism scandals.</s>Tokyo governor Koike vows break from the past with new party

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike delivers her speech during an inauguration press conference on her new political party, 'Party of Hope', in Tokyo on September 27, 2017. — AFP picTOKYO, Sept 27 — Popular Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike this morning vowed a break with old-school politics as she unveiled a new party she hopes will shake up the upcoming snap election in Japan.

Pledging to bring back “hope” to the Japanese people, she said she was launching the party to “reset Japan.”

“Now is the time for us to carry out reforms that are un-tied to” vested interests, Koike told a nationally televised news conference.

Koike lamented that Japanese firms had lost their former glory, complaining that Chinese and American companies, like Amazon and Apple, “have become number one”.

“The snap election is a chance to change,” said the 65-year-old former anchorwoman, accusing the ruling conservative LDP party of being too hesitant in its reform programme.

Most commentators say Koike’s new party, called the “Party of Hope”, will not have enough time to mount a serious nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before elections widely expected on October 22.

Abe called a snap election yesterday, hoping to capitalise on a weak and fractured opposition as well as a recent bump in the polls due to voter approval of his hard line on North Korea.

Surveys put him a long way of his nearest rivals but Yoel Sano, Head of Global Political and Security Risk at BMI Research, said Koike’s entry into the fray was a “major wild card”.

Voters may view Abe’s snap election as a “cynical and opportunistic move, especially given the severity of the North Korean crisis, which does not need the ‘distraction’ of an early election”, said Sano.

Koike said a “political vacuum” had been created by Abe’s decision to call an election at a time when tensions over North Korea are at fever pitch.

Elected governor of Tokyo a year ago, Koike has already begun pulling disillusioned opposition lawmakers into her powerful orbit amid rumours that she could bring the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, into the fold.

She reportedly held talks with Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister and leader of the largest opposition party, with a view to possibly joining forces.

Maehara’s struggling party, which changed name from the DPJ after a smaller opposition group joined it in March last year, has already suffered more than a dozen defectors, several of them to Koike’s party. — AFP</s>TOKYO: A fledgling conservative party led by popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is gaining traction in its challenge to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc in a general election next month, two media polls released on Thursday (Sep 28) showed.

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed 18 percent of voters plan to vote for Koike's Party of Hope compared to 29 percent for Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

An Asahi newspaper poll showed 13 percent planned to vote for Koike's party versus 32 percent for the LDP. Both surveys asked voters their preference for proportional representation districts where ballots are cast for parties rather than specific candidates.

The polls come ahead of Thursday's dissolution of parliament's lower house for an election expected on Oct. 22.

Koike's new party was only formally launched on Wednesday and has upended the outlook for the election after Koike announced this week she would lead it herself.

Japan's main opposition Democratic Party now looks in danger of being absorbed by the Party of Hope.

Abe, who took office in December 2012, is calling the election in the hope of keeping his LDP-led coalition's majority in the lower house, where it now has a two-thirds "super majority".</s>TOKYO (Reuters) – A fledgling conservative party led by popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is gaining traction in its challenge to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc ahead of a general election next month, media polls released on Thursday showed. Original Article</s>Japan’s prime minister, Shinzō Abe, faces a serious challenge from an ally turned nemesis, as voters prepare to go to the polls next month in an election he has described as a verdict on his handling of the economy and North Korea.



Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday, with polls showing that a new conservative party formed by the popular governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, making ground on his ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP).

Koike’s Party of Hope, formed only a day earlier, has pledged to be a “tolerant, conservative reform party” that will challenge vested interests and respect diversity.

Koike, a former news anchor who speaks English and Arabic, has cast herself as a conservative populist, determined to take on the political old guard, since she became Tokyo’s first female governor last year.

“If at this time we don’t reset Japan, we won’t be able to sufficiently protect our international competitiveness and national security,” Koike said at her party’s official launch.

Abe called the election – a year earlier than expected – in an attempt to exploit a weak and divided opposition and to secure a mandate for his spending plans and tough line against Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programmes.

Koike, who served as defence minister during Abe’s first term as prime minister a decade ago, has said she will not run in the election but will stay on as governor to oversee preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

But her decision to lead the new party, coupled with her positive media profile, could frustrate Abe’s plans by attracting conservative and undecided voters.

Opinion polls showed the Party of Hope closing the gap on the ruling party, despite signs that Abe has emerged relatively unscathed from two summer scandals that dragged his support to the lowest levels since he became prime minister in late 2012.

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper found 18% of respondents would vote for Hope compared with 29% for the Abe’s party. Another poll by the Asahi newspaper put Koike’s party on 13% and the LDP on 32%.

The Party of Hope’s emergence on the national political scene has thrown the main opposition party, the Democrats, into turmoil. Several Democrat MPs have defected to Koike’s party, while its leader, Seiji Maehara, is reportedly considering allowing Democrats to run as Hope candidates.

While the LDP is expected to win, a strong challenge from the centre-right could cost it precious seats in the powerful lower house.

The LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, have the two-thirds majority in both houses Abe needs to push ahead with his plans to rewrite Japan’s pacifist constitution.

Failure to retain his party’s super majority would in effect end the prospects for constitutional reform – a project to which Abe has devoted his entire political career.

Yoel Sano, head of global political and security risk at BMI Research in Tokyo, said Abe’s gamble could backfire if voters see the snap election as a grab for power.

“The Japanese public may view it as a cynical and opportunistic move, especially given the severity of the North Korean crisis,” Sano said.

Koike, who has long been tipped to become Japan’s first female prime minister, defied the LDP to successfully run for the Tokyo governorship last year. In July, the local forerunner to her party crushed the LDP in the Tokyo assembly elections, fuelling speculation that she would challenge the ruling party in national elections.

Some analysts said Abe was unlikely to suffer the same fate as the British prime minister, Theresa May, who called a snap election in the spring only to see her Conservative party lose its majority in the House of Commons.

“Unlike in Britain with Labour, there is no opposition worthy of the name in Japan,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University in Tokyo. “The LDP is a giant among dwarves. It would take a major scandal to derail the Abe express.

“He may not retain his super majority but given the fractured and unprepared state of Japan’s opposition parties, it’s hard to see much risk to a commanding majority.”

Abe and Koike are business-friendly conservatives and hawkish on security, but they differ in two areas that could have a bearing on the election.

While Abe is committed to a sales tax rise in 2019 he says is needed to fund spending on education and nursing care for the elderly, Koike has called for a freeze on the tax.

Koike has also called for Japan to abandon nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima meltdown; Abe supports reactor restarts.

“There’s not much daylight between Koike’s party and the LDP,” said Gerry Curtis, professor emeritus at Columbia University. “It’s a question of who can impress the voters as more competent. It’s competence and it’s character.”</s>TOKYO A fledgling party led by popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike gained momentum yesterday ahead of an Oct 22 election.

This comes after the biggest opposition Democratic Party said it would step aside to let its candidates run under her conservative, reformist banner.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative who returned to power in 2012, hopes a recent boost in voter support will help his Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) coalition maintain a simple majority.

But Ms Koike's new Party of Hope, formally launched only on Wednesday, has upended the outlook for the election after the former LDP member said she would lead it herself.

A media-savvy former defence minister whose name has been bandied about as Japan's first female prime minister, Ms Koike said she would not run for a seat, although speculation persists that she will.

Democratic Party executives said they would not run candidates of their own and would let members run under the Party of Hope banner.

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed 18 per cent of voters plan to vote for Ms Koike's party, compared to 29 per cent for LDP.

An Asahi newspaper poll showed 13 per cent planned to vote for her party, versus 32 per cent for the LDP.</s>TOKYO: Popular Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike Wednesday vowed a break with old-school politics as she officially launched a new party she hopes will shake up the upcoming snap election in Japan.

Pledging to bring back “hope” to the Japanese people, Koike said the party aimed to “reset” the country, which is expected to go to the polls on October 22.

“Now is the time for us to carry out reforms that are un-tied to” vested interests, she told a nationally televised news conference.

Koike lamented that Japanese firms had lost their former glory, complaining that Chinese and American companies, like Amazon and Apple, “have become number one.”

“The snap election is a chance to change,” said the 65-year-old former anchorwoman, accusing the ruling conservative LDP party of being too hesitant in its reform program.

Most commentators say Koike’s new party, called the “Party of Hope”, will not have enough time to mount a serious nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the snap vote.

Abe said on Monday he would dissolve parliament and call elections, hoping to capitalize on a weak and fractured opposition as well as a recent bump in the polls due to voter approval of his hard line on North Korea.

Surveys put him a long way ahead of his nearest rivals but Yoel Sano, Head of Global Political and Security Risk at BMI Research, said Koike’s entry into the fray was a “major wild card.”

Voters may view Abe’s snap election as a “cynical and opportunistic move, especially given the severity of the North Korean crisis, which does not need the ‘distraction’ of an early election,” said Sano.

Koike said Abe’s decision to call a snap election had created a “political vacuum” at a time when tensions over North Korea are at fever pitch.

Elected governor of Tokyo a year ago, Koike has already begun pulling disillusioned opposition lawmakers into her powerful orbit amid rumors that she could bring the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, into the fold.

She reportedly held talks with DP leader Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister, with a view to possibly joining forces and unifying the opposition to Abe.

Maehara’s struggling party, which changed its name from the DPJ after a smaller group joined it in March last year, has already suffered more than a dozen defectors, several of them to Koike’s party.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike establishes the conservative Kibō no Tō (Party of Hope) to contest the upcoming election although she will neither lead it nor run.