People's New Party
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|---|---|
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| President | Shozaburo Jimi |
| Founded | 17 August 2005 (2005-08-17) |
| Dissolved | 22 March 2013 (2013-03-22) |
| Headquarters | Kohase Bldg. 3F, Hirakawa-cho 2-14-7,Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0093 |
| Ideology | Conservatism[1] |
| Colours | Orange |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www | |
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ThePeople's New Party (国民新党Kokumin Shintō, PNP) was a Japanese political party formed on August 17, 2005, in the aftermath of the defeat of Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi'sJapan Post privatisation bills which led to asnap election. On March 21, 2013, party leaderShozaburo Jimi announced that he was disbanding the party.
The Kokumin Shinto, originally headed byShizuka Kamei, included formerlower house speakerTamisuke Watanuki, formerLiberal Democratic Party (LDP) lower house membersHisaoki Kamei,Tadahiro Matsushita, andHouse of Councillors membersKensei Hasegawa from the LDP andTamura Hideaki from theDemocratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the main opposition.
Most of the members of the Kokumin Shinto were formerly members of theShisuikai (also known as Kamei Faction) of the LDP. Their strong links to the postal lobby forced them to go against Koizumi's plans to privatise the postal system. While Watanuki was made party leader, Kamei was also seen as a public face for the party.
In the 2005 snap election, the party was able to retain four seats, matching the pre-election total, with two single-seat members (Watanuki and Shizuka Kamei) and two proportional members (Hisaoki Kamei and new member Masaki Itokawa). However, the overwhelming victory of the LDP, with a new two-thirds majority in the lower house, made it unlikely that they would be able to exert influence on government policy.
In June 2007, party head Shizuka Kamei announced that former President of PeruAlberto Fujimori would be running for a seat in the House of Councillors under the banner of the People's New Party. At the time of the initial announcement, Fujimori was under house arrest inChile pending the outcome of an extradition hearing to decide whether he would be returned toPeru to face charges of corruption and human rights violations there. On 11 July 2007 Chilean Judge Orlando Alvarez ruled against the extradition; however, Fujimori remained under house arrest, and was unable to return to Japan for his campaign. He would ultimately fail in his bid.[2][3][4]
After the2009 general election, on 16 September 2009, a new government was formed; the PNP became a part of the ruling coalition led by the DPJ.[5] After that the party suffered in the nextCouncillor election andgeneral election.
People's New Party was described as having afar-right political position.[6][7] The party was initially almost exclusively defined by its opposition to Koizumi's "dictatorial" (独裁的,dokusaiteki) politics as expressed in the post privatisation debate. Eventually their platform was broadened to include ideals of serving and protecting the people, and engaging in "warm, friendly politics".[citation needed]
| Election | Leader | # of seats won | # of Constituency votes | % of Constituency vote | # of PR Block votes | % of PR Block vote | Government/opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Tamisuke Watanuki | 4 / 480 | 432,679 | 0.64 | 1,183,073 | 1.74 | Opposition |
| 2009 | 3 / 480 | 730,570 | 1.04 | 1,219,767 | 1.73 | DPJ-PNP-SDP Government Coalition (2009-2010) DPJ-PNP Government Coalition (2010-2012) | |
| 2012 | Shozaburo Jimi | 1 / 480 | 117,185 | 0.20 | 70,847 | 0.12 | Opposition |
| Election | Leader | # of seats total | # of seats won | # of National votes | % of National vote | # of Prefectural votes | % of Prefectural vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Tamisuke Watanuki | 4 / 242 | 2 / 121 | 1,269,209 | 2.15 | 1,111,005 | 1.87 |
| 2010 | Shizuka Kamei | 3 / 242 | 0 / 121 | 1,000,036 | 1.71 | 167,555 | 0.29 |
On March 21, 2013, party leaderShozaburo Jimi announced that he was disbanding the party. At that time only Jimi andKazuyuki Hamada remained as diet representatives.[8]
