In Japan, Centrist Reform Alliance prepares to disband
In Japan, the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) is preparing to disband after a plan for a full merger with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito failed. Former CDP members are expected to create a new political force, while former Komeito representatives will return to their party, The Japan Times reports.
CRA leader Junya Ogawa and other party executives agreed on Tuesday to a plan under which the alliance will see almost all of its lawmakers leave. At the same time, one CRA member will temporarily retain membership to settle financial matters and wind down local chapters before the final dissolution.
Cooperation in the lower house
The plan was to be formally approved on Wednesday following meetings of lawmakers and the extraordinary executive leadership. CRA also plans to maintain cooperation with the new party and Komeito in the House of Representatives by creating a parliamentary group. This is intended to preserve their combined weight as the largest opposition bloc in the lower house of parliament.
CRA includes 49 members of the House of Representatives: 21 were previously members of the CDP, while another 28 were members of Komeito. Most former CDP representatives are expected to form a new party, while former Komeito members may return to it as early as this month.
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Finances and elections
CRA leadership likely decided to temporarily keep the party in existence to avoid bureaucratic procedures that could delay the creation of a new political force until after the autumn parliamentary session. If the alliance continues to exist, it will receive unallocated state subsidies totaling about ¥1.17 billion, or $7.6 million.
According to local media, most of these funds may be used to repay CRA loans and support candidates who lost the February House of Representatives election. The alliance must also determine the fate of about ¥117 million raised through crowdfunding. Ogawa said that returning donations to donors is being considered as one option.
CRA was created in January by lower house lawmakers from the CDP and Komeito to contest the February general election as a single centrist force against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. After its electoral defeat, the alliance's representation in the House of Representatives fell by more than two-thirds, while its approval rating remained in the single digits. At the end of August, the CDP abandoned the full merger, and Komeito made a similar decision last week.
