The new political party led by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike unveiled Tuesday its first batch of candidates for the Oct 22 lower house election, aiming to ultimately mount an attempt to take power from the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Party of Hope named a total…
The new political party led by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike unveiled Tuesday its first batch of candidates for the Oct 22 lower house election, aiming to ultimately mount an attempt to take power from the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The Party of Hope named a total of 192 candidates, 191 of whom will run in single-seat electoral districts in the 465-seat House of Representatives. They will all run on proportional representation lists, giving the 191 a chance to get seats even if they lose in their districts.
Voters get two ballots and must write in the name of a party on their proportional representation ballot and the name of a candidate on their electoral district ballot.
The party plans to announce two more batches of candidates for the election before official campaigning begins on Oct 10 for a total of at least 233 candidates, just over half the number of seats in the house.
„In total, I think (the number) will be more than 233, making it quite possible for us to aim for a change of government,“ said Masaru Wakasa, seeking reelection for the lower house, said after announcing the list Tuesday.
„I want us to all go in the same direction while each preparing to fight where we can,“ Koike later told reporters in Tokyo.
Candidates include Koike’s close aide Wakasa and Goshi Hosono, a former environment minister who left the Democratic Party, as well as 26 participants in a political academy hosted by Wakasa.
But Koike herself is not on the list and appeared to rule out any prospect of an immediate return to national politics on Tuesday when she told reporters, „I’m 100 percent not running in the election.“
Koike’s establishment of the Party of Hope, whose official English name was confirmed by Wakasa’s office on Tuesday, has fueled speculation that the former LDP lower house member may resign as Tokyo governor to make a comeback in national politics.
