2 People Run For New Opposition Party's Top Post


2 people run for new opposition party's top post

Two lawmakers have kicked off campaigning for the leadership of Japan's new main opposition party, which will be mainly formed by a merger of two existing ones.

The policy chief of the Democratic Party for the People, Izumi Kenta, and the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Edano Yukio, are running for leadership.

Voting to choose the leader and the name of the party will take place on Thursday by 149 lawmakers from the two forces and others.

Izumi proposed "The Democratic Party of Japan" as the new name, while Edano registered the name of his current party, "The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan."

Izumi told reporters that the new party will be born with an extremely important mission. He said he wants to have campaign debates that will live up to the party's position as the largest opposition with 149 lawmakers. He also said he wants to build a party that can meet people's expectations.

Edano said he filed his candidacy to offer people a choice of a government and to bring new vigor to the country's politics.

He said he will lead efforts to create a society where people support each other using his experiences and lessons learned from hardships and failures.

Campaign issues are expected to include how to prepare the new party for the next general election as well as economic measures to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.