[2021 House of Representatives election] Restoration Challenge with "new mountain climbing route"

The Nippon Ishin no Kai has fought three House of Representatives elections in the past, including the former Ishin no Kai, which was led by the former Mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, but the number of seats won has decreased in the last two times.

　In November 2012, the Nippon Ishin no Kai, which was formed by Mr. Hashimoto and others and is based on the Osaka Restoration Association, merged with the Sun Party established by Shintaro Ishihara, the former governor of Tokyo. Immediately after, he won 54 seats in the first House of Representatives election, and suddenly jumped into the third party after both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party.

　However, over the confluence of the Unity Party, which was represented by Kenji Eda, members of the Hashimoto and Ishihara families confronted each other and the party split. The House of Representatives election in 2014, when he fought as the Japan Innovation Party, had only 41 seats.

　After that, the line conflict between Mr. Hashimoto and Mr. Eda surfaced and re-divided. After the formation of the "Osaka Ishin no Kai" by members of the Hashimoto family and the retirement of Mr. Hashimoto from the political world, he retreated to 11 seats in the previous 29 years when he re-entered the Nippon Ishin no Kai.

　Currently, the Ishin no Kai, which has 10 seats in the lower house, has nominated 58 candidates for the next lower house election. The representative, Ichiro Matsui, mayor of Osaka, has set a goal of being the "first party of the opposition" and wants to reach 100 people in the end, but it is not easy to achieve.

　What hurt the restoration was that the Osaka Metropolis Plan, which was the first place in the policy, was rejected again in the referendum of Osaka City in November last year.

　Secretary-general Nobuyuki Baba emphasizes that "the flag of governance reform will never be dropped." However, with two vetos, there was widespread recognition within the party that "a major reform of the governance system from the bottom up is difficult." For this reason, he plans to develop a "new mountain climbing route" (Mr. Baba), including national initiative, as an approach to reform the governing structure and incorporate it into the promise of the next House of Representatives election.

　In addition, Mr. Matsui, who has been the "face" of the party since the party was formed with Mr. Hashimoto in response to the veto, announced his retirement for the mayor's term. It is certain that the party will change generations, and it is at a turning point in terms of policy, such as the need to show a new centerpiece to replace the city plan.

　Penetration throughout the country is also a big issue. Many members of the Diet are elected and born in Osaka, and still have a strong image of being an "Osaka party." "In order for the Restoration to become a national political party, we must increase the number of members in Tokyo," said one of the executives.

　Ishin has a policy of supporting candidates in 16 or more constituencies, which is two-thirds of the 25 constituencies in Tokyo, and has set the voting target of proportional Tokyo block to 1 million or more. At the end of last year, the "capital decisive battle" is emphasized, such as holding a press conference by gathering the branch chiefs of 12 constituencies that have been officially approved in the Diet.

Source: https://www.sankei.com/politics/news/210110/plt2101100013-n1.html