The votes of the Komeito Party may determine the outcome of each electoral district. The new party is urgently seeking to strengthen its organizational power.

In the upcoming House of Representatives election on February 8, the voting preferences of Komeito supporters may influence the results of various districts. Although Komeito can typically mobilize 10,000 to 20,000 votes in a single district, the public still generally has doubts about the formation of the constitutional democratic party and the new party "Center Reform United." It remains uncertain whether this camp will perform as expected. Additionally, the National Democratic Party's active promotion of candidates may also divert the support of labor groups, and the centrist camp is making every effort to promote organizational construction.

"How could someone involved in political black money cases receive party nominations? The Liberal Democratic Party shows no sign of reflection," said Yukio Hatoyama, co-leader of the new party, at a joint street speech with co-leader Tetsuo Saito, who also came from Komeito. This was intended to win over the group of Komeito supporters who remain strict in their attitude towards the "money-power politics" issue within the LDP faction.

Prime Minister Hayato Mikami suddenly announced the dissolution of the House of Representatives due to his high cabinet approval rating, prompting the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito to respond in the form of a new party. However, there have long been concerns within the two parties: some worry that "Komeito might be forced to hand over the list of its supporters," while others admit that it is difficult to completely cut off relations with local LDP forces."

Early election surveys generally indicated that "the LDP had the possibility of obtaining more than half the seats alone," which increased the sense of crisis for the new party camp. On February 29, common secretary general Haruhisa Asano visited Komeito members in Hokkaido to seek cooperation; Saito planned to visit Tokyo wards over the weekend—where competition between the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party is fierce—with the aim of boosting support for his candidates.

According to related sources, after the election announcement, the core supporting body of Komeito, the Soka Gakkai, has decided to "fully support the candidates of the new party camp." All candidates from Komeito are arranged in prominent positions in the proportional representation candidate lists. A Komeito-related person admitted that if candidates from the Constitutional Democratic Party lose in several districts, the influence of Komeito's votes might be seen as "empty," and the sense of crisis is very strong.

Regarding the National Democratic Party's deliberate selection of opponents in certain districts against former legislators who switched to the new party camp, Hatoyama bluntly stated, "I cannot understand it," and showed frustration. At the same time, the national organization of the labor union, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, which supports both the new party camp and the National Democratic Party, lamented that the support base of the Constitutional Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party has become increasingly clear, and the diversion of organizational votes has become inevitable.

The results of this election will also fully reflect the value of Komeito.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855810520200521/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.