THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
September 10, 2022 at 18:37 JST
Nobuyuki Baba, the new head of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), responds to an interview with The Asahi Shimbun. (Kazutaka Kamizawa)
The new leader of the second largest opposition party said he will not rule out joining forces with the ruling coalition as long as assurances were given that policy goals would be met.
Nobuyuki Baba, who was elected head of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) in late August, made the remark during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on Sept. 8.
Stating that a new vision for the nation is needed, Baba called for a drastic review of social security programs established decades ago when Japan experienced high economic growth as well as reform of the governing structure. In the case of the latter, he vowed to forge ahead with a plan to turn Osaka into a “deputy capital.”
Baba said if assurances were given that those policy goals would be met, his party would not oppose joining the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito in their coalition.
At the same time, Baba said Nippon Ishin would take a more aggressive stance toward Komeito incumbents in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures in the next Lower House election that is due to be held three years from now.
Those prefectures constitute key power bases for Nippon Ishin, but the party chose not to challenge Komeito candidates running in six districts in those two prefectures during the 2021 Lower House election. The move was intended to gain Komeito’s support for a referendum to reorganize Osaka city into a metropolis like Tokyo. In 2020, the move was voted down for the second time.
“It would be a shame to simply hand over those seats,” Baba said. He also revealed that Ichiro Matsui, his predecessor as party head, told him after the 2021 Lower House election that the relationship with Komeito should be reviewed.
Baba also said he would stake his party leadership post on reaching Nippon Ishin’s goal of increasing its seats by 1.5-fold to 600 around the nation in unified local elections slated for next spring.
(This article was written by Shohei Sasagawa and Amane Sugawara.)
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