Hiranuma, Yosano launch new party to oppose DPJ+

TOKYO, April 10 Kyodo -
Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma, former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano and
three other veteran lawmakers launched a new party Saturday amid questions
about its ability to be a potent alternative to existing parties.
Headed by Hiranuma, 70, the Sunrise Party of Japan will aim to field candidates
for the House of Councillors election this summer under the banner of opposing
the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and pursuing a ''revival of Japan'' and a
''realignment of political forces.''
''Today's politics, which is conducted by the DPJ government, will ruin this
country,'' Hiranuma, a former member of the Liberal Democratic Party, said at a
news conference for the party's launch. ''I have risen up to work hard for this
precious Japan by staking my entire political career on it.''
The new party advocates drastic tax reforms, a hike in the consumption tax rate
and crafting a new constitution. It will also call for economic growth and the
nation's fiscal rehabilitation, while aiming to devise a sustainable social
security system.
Yosano, who was designated as the new party's co-leader, characterized its
position as ''anti-DPJ'' and ''non-LDP,'' telling the same news conference,
''The DPJ has no philosophy or thought on politics, while the LDP doesn't have
a strong enough spirit to fight as an opposition party.''
Saturday's move came after Yosano, 71, and others left the main opposition LDP,
dealing another blow to a party that is struggling to reassert itself following
its defeat by the DPJ in last summer's historic general election.
The other founding members are former LDP Acting Secretary General Hiroyuki
Sonoda, 68, former transport minister Takao Fujii, 67, and former Cabinet
Office Senior Vice Minister Yoshio Nakagawa, 72. Fujii and Nakagawa are upper
house members.
The Sunrise Party of Japan is the first political party eligible upon its
launch to receive subsidies and other benefits under law since the founding
last August of Your Party, a small party led by a LDP defector. To be eligible
for such support, a political party is required to have at least five lawmakers
as members.
Hiranuma left the LDP in 2005, when it was still a dominant ruling party, over
his opposition to the privatization of postal services, while the rest tendered
their resignations to the LDP over the past week.
The five lawmakers jointly announced the launch of the party, called
''Tachiagare Nippon'' in Japanese, at a Tokyo hotel. Tokyo Gov. Shintaro
Ishihara, who supports the party and came up with its Japanese name, also
attended the event.
The party is aiming to field more than 10 candidates in the proportional
representation section during the upcoming election, expected to be held in
July, in a bid to prevent the DPJ from securing an outright majority in the
upper chamber.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's DPJ already has a commanding presence in the
more powerful House of Representatives following its landslide victory in the
general election.
The new party may field candidates not just in the Tokyo constituency but in
electoral districts in other urban areas, such as Kanagawa, Saitama and Osaka
prefectures, Yosano said on a TV Tokyo program earlier Saturday.
Referring to the new party's goal of opposing the DPJ and spurring a political
realignment, Hatoyama told reporters on Saturday, ''The DPJ has pursued (the
realization of) very big reforms after the change of government, so I don't
mean to turn back the clock.''
But ''it's not a bad thing for politicians to work hard with and learn from
each other to create a new political movement,'' he added.
Meanwhile, LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki expressed regret about the
defections of Yosano and the others but vowed to reinvigorate the LDP to win
the upper house election.
''While (the new party) has in common with us the goal of stopping the DPJ's
bad governance, it is the LDP in the end that must work hard to stop the
runaway DPJ,'' he told reporters during a stop in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Despite Tanigaki's resolve, observers say there is a possibility that the
latest development could spur the disintegration of the LDP.
The new party said in a statement that it ''aims to accomplish both 'security'
and 'growth' at the same time through jobs created through deregulation and
consumption tax revenues.''
Reflecting its conservative bent, the party strongly opposes giving foreigners
living permanently in Japan the right to vote in local elections and granting
spouses the choice to continue using their original surnames.
But questions remain about the party's policy coherence and philosophy as
Hiranuma and Yosano, the party's two pillars, are said to be poles apart on
basic points.
Hiranuma is known as a die-hard conservative with a preference for economic
stimulus measures through public spending, while Yosano is considered a
moderate and a strong advocate of fiscal rehabilitation.
On postal reform, on which the two are said to have significantly different
views, the party will aim to maintain current services across the country but
the principle of full privatization will not be changed, Sonoda said at the
news conference.
Yosano had pushed the privatization drive as LDP policy chief.
Meanwhile, Ishihara, whose tenure as governor expires in April next year, ruled
out running in the upper house election but left open the possibility of a
future bid.
''I will fulfill my responsibility (as governor) because there is still some
time left in my term of office,'' the governor said at the news conference.
''But I don't know about an upper house election'' in the future.
At a gathering in Tokyo earlier in the day, Hiranuma said he intends to field
former transport minister Nariaki Nakayama on his party's ticket in the
upcoming election.
Nakayama, a former LDP member, lost his bid in the last general election after
running as an independent.
Yosano tendered his resignation to the LDP on April 3 after criticizing the LDP
leadership for failing to carry out a major leadership reshuffle.
==Kyodo