nuclear-news

Anti nuclear political parties getting organised in Japan

Ozawa, Kamei to fight election on anti-nuclear line, November 20, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Two veteran politicians hoping to draw support for their small parties are drawing a line in the sand against nuclear power, a key issue in the Dec. 16 Lower House election.

Ichiro Ozawa, who leads People’s Life First, plans to capitalize on the issue to differentiate his party and draw support away from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party.

People’s Life First, mainly consisting of DPJ defectors, calls for moving away from nuclear power in 10 years in its basic platform. The DPJ advocates allowing idled nuclear reactors to be brought back online, although it aims to halt all reactors by the 2030s. The LDP plans to maintain atomic power as part of the nation’s energy policy.

Ozawa, a former DPJ president, gained more separation from his rivals
after the Japan Restoration Party, a front-runner among the growing
number of so-called “third political forces,” toned down its
anti-nuclear rhetoric to forge a merger with the Sunrise Party.

The other anti-nuclear player is Shizuka Kamei, former chief of the
People’s New Party, who became secretary-general of a new party
opposed to joining talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade
agreement, nuclear power and the consumption tax hike.

The anti-TPP party, founded on Nov. 19, is headed by Masahiko Yamada,
a former farm minister who defected from the DPJ the same day.

“The government is deceiving the public into believing that Japan has
no choice but to depend on nuclear power because it has no intention
(of scrapping atomic energy),” Kamei told a news conference on Nov.
19.
Ozawa said he can work with Kamei, who bolted from the ruling
coalition in opposition to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s plans to
raise the consumption tax.

“We want to advance cooperation with groups and individuals who can
share stances on key issues such as nuclear power, the consumption tax
and the TPP,” Ozawa told a news conference on Nov. 19.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who established the Japan Restoration
Party, has long called for scrapping nuclear power by the 2030s. But
he effectively shelved the goal when the party merged with the Sunrise
Party on Nov. 17.
Former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, founder of the Sunrise Party
who has become leader of the Japan Restoration Party, argues against
abolishing nuclear power. Hashimoto has become his deputy.

Ozawa said People’s Life First and the Japan Restoration Party are
“moving in different directions” on nuclear policy.

He hopes to partner with other small, anti-nuclear parties, such as
Your Party and Midori no Kaze (Green Wind).

“We want to fight the Lower House election by joining hands with other
people willing to build a new Japan,” Ozawa said. “We will explore
possible alliances this week and the next.”

Ozawa already met with Yamada, who is close to the former DPJ
president, on Nov. 16, when the Lower House was dissolved and the snap
election called…… People’s Life First also seeks to team up with
Tomoko Abe, a Lower House member who abandoned the Social Democratic
Party on Nov. 15. But she plans to create a different framework to
push her non-nuclear agenda for the Lower House election
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201211200071

November 21, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics