New Party Centrist Reform Alliance Unveils Policy Platform

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Jun Azumi, left, and his Komeito counterpart Makoto Nishida are seen at a press conference at the Diet building on Monday.

New party Centrist Reform Alliance on Monday unveiled its policy platform, calling for realistic foreign and defense policies as well as deepening discussions on constitutional revision, as one of five primary goals.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Jun Azumi and his Komeito counterpart Makoto Nishida made the announcement at a press conference held at the Diet building.

The new party was formed by the CDPJ and Komeito.

The four other goals are a policy shift toward sustainable economic growth, building a new social security model, realizing an inclusive society and continuous political and electoral system reforms.

The platform did not include the “zero nuclear energy dependent society” advocated by the CDPJ, apparently out of consideration for Komeito, which is in favor of restarting nuclear reactors.

Regarding security, the platform advocates realistic foreign and defense policies centering on the Japan-U.S. alliance and peaceful diplomacy, based on the pacifism of the Constitution and the principle of an exclusively defensive security policy.

Emphasizing a call for the power of centrist politics, which steadily advances policies that put people’s lives first, Azumi and Nishida said the new party will aim to “become the core force leading the reforms the people want.”

“We want to seek a public mandate for our existence,” Azumi said at the press conference, while Nishida stated, “We want to ask for the support of the public as we make the first step as a genuine centrist bloc in Japanese politics.”

Related Tags