Japan Press Weekly

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2014 November 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

‘Third pole’ Your Party disbands

Your Party held a general meeting of its lawmakers on November 19 and decided to disband the party at the end of this month. The party has sold itself as a “third pole” to replace the two major political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

With a snap general election close at hand, Your Party’s parliamentarians have split into two factions, one seeking an alliance with other opposition parties and the other looking to collaborate with the ruling LDP. The party has eight seats in the Lower House and 12 seats in the Upper House.

Your Party was formed in August 2009. As both the LDP and the DPJ gradually lost the support of the general public, the mass media praised Your Party as a political force to drive a stake into the “two-party” system. In the previous general election two years ago, Your Party garnered more than five million votes in proportional representation constituencies.

Your Party’s policies are all based on extreme neo-liberalism, such as its call for a drastic relaxation of labor regulations. When public opposition was mounting against the government-proposed state secrecy bill in December last year, the party assisted the ruling coalition in forcing the bill through the Diet.

These actions revealed the party to be a mere political group backing the LDP, and the public gave up on the “third pole” party. Soon after the state secrecy bill was enacted, 40% of all the legislators of Your Party left the party. The remaining Dietmembers have been engaged in internal conflicts throughout this year.

According to an NHK opinion poll conducted in November, the support rate for Your Party was 0.0%.