Latest news with #SeijiMaehara
4 days ago
- Politics
Nippon Ishin Co-Head Maehara, 3 Other Execs to Step Down
News from Japan Politics Aug 5, 2025 21:58 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) co-leader Seiji Maehara and three other executives announced their plans to resign at an emergency meeting of party executives in Tokyo on Tuesday, in the wake of the opposition party's unimpressive showing in the July 20 House of Councillors election. "It is important to renew the party's executive members to unite the party once again," Maehara said. Maehara's successor is expected to be picked through a vote Friday. According to related sources, Fumitake Fujita, former secretary-general, appears eager to run in the election. Nippon Ishin is set to vote Thursday on whether to hold a leadership election. But there is a growing view that the election will not be held and that its current leader, Hirofumi Yoshimura, will stay on. The focus will be on whether Yoshimura can solidify the party's unity and gain a foothold for its rebuilding through the upcoming personnel changes. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Maehara steps down as Nippon Ishin co-leader along with three others
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara and three senior party leaders announced their resignations Tuesday, a move that shakes up an already-troubled party and leaves its future as an independent opposition force uncertain. In addition to Maehara, Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Ryohei Iwatani, General Affairs Chairman Tsukasa Abe, and Parliamentary Affairs Chief Joji Uruma will also resign, he said. The four are stepping down in order to take responsibility for Nippon Ishin's underwhelming performance in the July 20 Upper House election. 'When considering what Japan and Nippon Ishin must do to strengthen our position, I've concluded it's essential to renew public trust and reestablish a united party stance,' Maehara told party executives Tuesday afternoon. In the Upper House contest, Nippon Ishin won seven seats and is the third-largest opposition party in that chamber with a total of 19 seats. Nippon Ishin received only about 4.37 million proportional votes last month — down by almost 3.5 million from the roughly 7.84 million it received in the 2022 Upper House poll. How Tuesday's resignations might impact the party's relationship with other opposition parties and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is unclear. Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara (third from right) attends the party's plenary meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. | JIJI Maehara and party executives have insisted on not joining the LDP-led ruling coalition, at least not as long as LDP President Shigeru Ishiba remains prime minister. But many Nippon Ishin members, especially those from the party's Kansai base, are more supportive of joining the coalition under certain conditions, such as if the LDP agrees to serious talks about designating Osaka as Japan's back-up capital city if a natural disaster were to strike Tokyo. At an Aug. 1 meeting of Nippon Ishin parliamentarians, no opinions were expressed against joining an LDP coalition, Maehara said. Asked Tuesday about joining a coalition, Maehara said Nippon Ishin will continue to push itself as a national party but did not view joining a ruling coalition as impossible. However, on whether Nippon Ishin would work with the ruling coalition or other opposition parties on policy implementation, Maehara said that was for new party executives to decide. The four Nippon Ishin leaders have conveyed their decision to step down to party chief Hirofumi Yoshimura, who is Osaka governor. In Nippon Ishin's unique leadership structure, a co-leader serves as the party's representative in parliament, while Yoshimura is in charge overall. An election to name a replacement for Maehara is likely to take place on Friday. Nippon Ishin is the second-largest opposition party in the Lower House, with 38 seats. But while it controls all 19 Lower House districts in Osaka Prefecture, it has always had difficulty building support outside the region. Six of the party's Upper House district seats are in the Kansai prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto. It has only one non-Kansai Upper House district seat, in Kanagawa. Staff writers Gabriele Ninivaggi and Himari Semans contributed to this report.
5 days ago
- Politics
Nippon Ishin Co-Head Maehara, Others to Step Down
News from Japan Politics Aug 5, 2025 17:18 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) co-leader Seiji Maehara announced his plan to resign at a meeting of party executives Tuesday, in the wake of the opposition party's unimpressive showing in the July 20 House of Councillors election. "I realized that it is important to refurbish the party's executive members to unite the party once again," he said. Secretary-General Ryohei Iwatani also indicated his intention to resign on the same day. Nippon Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, also governor of Osaka Prefecture, has informed party executives of his plan to reshuffle the party's leadership team. General council chief Tsukasa Abe and parliamentary affairs head Joji Uruma are believed to be planning to step down, too. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Nippon Ishin no Kai could join ruling coalition, if the conditions are right
With the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito no longer holding a majority in either chamber of parliament, adding a third coalition partner is one solution to securing the needed votes to pass legislation, and Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai leaders have indicated they might not be dead set against joining under certain conditions. The first condition is that someone other than Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heads the LDP-led government. The second is that Osaka be designated as Japan's backup capital, a key party goal. Following an Aug. 1 meeting of Nippon Ishin parliamentarians, party co-leader Seiji Maehara, a Lower House member, said no one expressed an opinion against joining an LDP coalition. 'However, we are not considering a coalition with the Ishiba Cabinet at this point in time,' Maehara said. Immediately following the July 20 Upper House election, Nippon Ishin chief Hirofumi Yoshimura, who also serves as Osaka governor, was asked about the possibility of the party becoming the third member of the ruling coalition. He used similar language to Maehara, saying Nippon Ishin was not thinking about entering the coalition at this time. While avoiding a direct call for Ishiba to resign over the Upper House loss, Yoshimura also noted the opposition within the LDP to his remaining in office and said it would be extremely difficult for the LDP to get legislation passed now. A Nippon Ishin senior executive, Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, said that while the basic stance of the party is that it will remain outside the ruling coalition, the LDP minority government is now in a tight spot that might open the door to negotiations over the Osaka region becoming designated as a backup capital area, a key aspiration of the opposition party. 'We need a secondary metropolitan area that includes backup functions for crisis management. If this great wish is fulfilled, all options (including for joining the coalition) should be put forward,' Yokoyama told reporters on July 25. Though an opposition party, Nippon Ishin cooperated with the LDP in parliament earlier this year. The LDP secured Nippon Ishin's agreement for passage of the 2025 fiscal year budget in exchange for agreeing to Nippon Ishin's demands of educational reform and social insurance revisions. In the Upper House election, Nippon Ishin won seven seats and is now the third-largest opposition party in that chamber, with 19 seats. It's the second-largest party in the Lower House, with 38 seats. However, Nippon Ishin — under the leadership of Yoshimura and Maehara, who represents a Kyoto district — remains unable to expand its presence beyond the Kansai region, where it controls all 19 Lower House districts in Osaka Prefecture. On the other hand, the LDP, having failed to win any of the four Osaka Upper House seats up for election last month, is now extremely weak in the prefecture. Welcoming Nippon Ishin into the coalition would give it more influence there.
03-05-2025
- Politics
Diet Debate on Constitution Active under Minority Govt
Tokyo, May 3 (Jiji Press)--The House of Representatives' Commission on the Constitution is holding active discussions at a time when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is leading a minority government. After the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition failed to win a two-thirds majority in the Lower House election last year, parties cautious about constitutional amendment are confident they can block proposals they don't support. Such a majority is necessary for revising the Constitution. Since 2012, parties positive about constitutional amendment, including the LDP, Komeito and Nippon Ishin, had maintained a two-third majority in the Lower House. Still, the changed voting balance does not mean greater momentum for building a consensus, as the LDP and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan remain far apart on the issue. In a Diet debate among party leaders on April 23, Seiji Maehara, co-head of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), stressed the need to revise the Constitution. In response, Ishiba, president of the LDP, said, "We must hold discussions on the Constitution." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
