This article is about the 21st century political party. For the historical party that existed from 1927 to 1940, see Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan).
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The new party was launched on 2 October 2017 by DP deputy leader Yukio Edano at a press conference in Tokyo for liberals and left-leaning members of the DP who do not wish to, or were rejected for, contesting the election as candidates for the Party of Hope.[23][24]
On 3 October 2017, it was announced that the new party would not contest seats where former Democrats were running as Party of Hope candidates,[25] a gesture which was not returned when the Party of Hope ran a candidate in Edano's incumbent district. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP), in turn, pulled their own candidate from running in Edano's district so as to not take away votes from him.[26] The party won a total of 55 seats,[20] becoming the leading opposition party and leading the pacifist bloc (including the JCP and Social Democratic Party) to become the largest opposition bloc.
On 19 August 2020, the CDP announced that it would merge with the majority of the Democratic Party For the People (DPP) as well as some independent Diet members in September of that year.[28]
On 10 September 2020, the new party elected Edano as leader and voted to retain the CDP name.[29] Following the merger, the new CDP had 149 members and held 107 seats in the House of Representatives, compared to 156 members and 96 seats held by the Democratic Party in 2016. The independents who joined the CDP in this merger included former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. Several conservative DPP members, including DPP president Yuichiro Tamaki, did not join the CDP and instead continued to lead a rump DPP independent of the CDP.[30][15]
On 14 November 2020, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) voted to agree to a merger arrangement with the CDP, allowing SDP members to leave the party and join the CDP.[31] SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima was opposed to the merger agreement and as a result remained in the Social Democratic Party.[31]
The CDP contested the 2021 general election in an electoral pact co-operating with the JCP, Reiwa Shinsengumi and continuing DPP and SDP parties in fielding single opposition candidates in single-seat constituencies.[32] Edano resigned as party leader following the election on 2 November 2021, due to poorer than expected electoral results, in which the CDP fell from 110 to 96 seats.[33][34]
Kenta Izumi was elected as the leader of the CDP in the 2021 Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leadership election on 30 November 2021. Formerly a member of the DPP, he said that the two parties are regarded by the public as "close" and "thought to be like brothers" and "expressed support for a tie-up" between the two.[39]
At launch in 2017, the CDP opposed the proposed revision of Article 9 of Japan's postwar constitution.[20][54][55] The party supports the phasing out of nuclear energy in Japan,[56] and government investment in renewable energy.[57] The party does not support the legalization and maintenance of casinos.[58] The party supports "building a society that supports each other and makes full use of individuality and creativity."[59][60] In their 2017 political programme, the party expressed support for grassroots democracy and diplomatic pacifism.[61]
In 2019, the party pledged to support LGBT rights and the legalization of same-sex marriage in Japan,[62] and in March 2023, promoted a parliamentary bill for Japan to legally recognise such couplings.[63]
The party supported a freeze in the increase of the consumption tax as of 2017,[64][65] and supports a temporary consumption tax cut as of 2020, along with higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals.[15] In the run-up to the 2021 general election, party leader Edano stated his party's support for redistribution of wealth.[66] The 2021 election platform offered support for progressive taxation, a pledge for additional welfare payments for citizens on low incomes, and raising the capital gains tax rate to 25% by 2023.[67]
The CDP's 2024 platform supported raising the minimum wage, the abolition of tuition fees, free school meals, gender equality legislation and reform of laws regulating use of surnames following marriage in Japan.[68][69] The party also abandoned its previous policies of freezing or lowering the consumption tax rate.[70]
Policies
The following policies are set forth under the title "Enrich your life with a change of government: Seven promises of the Constitutional Democratic Party." For the following policies, please refer to the "2024 Government Policies List and Policy Collection 2024" on the Constitutional Democratic Party's official website. For details on government policies, including detailed policy items, please refer to the PDF version. Also see Basic Policies and Constitutional Democratic Party Policy Collection 2024.
Political Reform
Make political funds completely transparent and do not tolerate slush funds or tax evasion
Prohibit corporate and group donations, abolish policy activity expenses, and revise the Political Funds Control Law again to put an end to money-driven corrupt politics
Limit the hereditary succession of political funds for Diet members, diversify the pool of politicians, and reflect public opinion in politics
Make the use of tax money completely transparent and efficient
Prevent scandals involving "politics and money" Investigate the truth and thoroughly pursue the responsibility of those involved
Reexamine the civil service system, including the Cabinet Personnel Bureau, to ensure there is no favoritism
Thoroughly reduce wasteful spending of tax money, such as arbitrary use of reserve funds
Price and economic measures
Set the minimum wage at 1,500 yen or more and raise the bottom line of workers' wages by passing on appropriate prices, etc.
Support wage increases through thorough "investment in people" such as reskilling and recurrent education
Implement fundamental reforms to contract and temporary workers so that those who wish can work as regular employees
Focus on investing in green, life, local, and digital (GLLD), which will be the pillars of growth
Encourage cutting-edge industries such as semiconductors and generative artificial intelligence to locate domestically, and encourage companies to
Boldly support the digitalization and greening of the world.
Strengthen support for Japan's world-class arts, traditional culture, and content industries.
Aim to achieve carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy as soon as possible to fulfill our responsibility to the future of the climate crisis.
Limit temporary workers to jobs that truly demonstrate the worker's expertise, and contract workers to temporary employment, etc.
Eliminate unreasonable discrimination such as the wage gap between men and women by realizing equal pay for equal work.
Foreign Affairs and Security
We will be committed to an exclusively defensive defense policy, pursue stable foreign and security policies based on the Japan-US alliance, and resolutely protect our people and our homeland.
We will enact the Basic Law on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), strengthen our efforts to address global issues such as climate change, poverty, and global health, and strongly pursue human rights diplomacy.
We will carefully examine the sharply increased military expenditures and defense budget, and will not increase taxes on defense.
We will promote dialogue and diplomacy, security cooperation and exchanges with countries that share basic values, and advance solidarity.
We will integrate military power in new domains (cyberspace, outer space, etc.). Strengthen defense capabilities and improve fighting capabilities
Improve the treatment of SDF personnel and work to secure personnel
Establish effective economic security policies, such as strengthening the supply chain, ensuring superiority in cutting-edge technology, and strengthening infrastructure security
Respect the will of the people of Okinawa, halt construction on the Henoko relocation site, where issues such as soft ground have been identified, and ask the United States of America to renegotiate the status of bases in Okinawa and the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement
There is no time to waste in resolving the issue of Japanese abductions by North Korea, and make every effort to rescue all abductees
Social Security
Current paper health insurance cards will continue to be used until certain conditions, such as the elimination of public anxiety, are met
Improve the working conditions of those working in childcare, nursing care, and disability welfare, etc., one after another
Establish a system to pay a fixed amount on top of the pensions of low-income elderly people
Establish a "Japanese version of the family doctor system" to realize a welfare state with "100 years of health"
Improve the quality and quantity of nursing care services to eliminate people leaving their jobs to care for their loved ones
Promptly review the reduction in basic remuneration for home care
Introduce an "employment support benefit system" to fill the "1.3 million yen barrier" with benefits, etc.
Further expand coverage so that more part-time workers can join the Employees' Pension Insurance
Childcare and education
Make school lunches free for public elementary and junior high schools
Make tuition fees free for national and public universities, and implement an equivalent reduction in the burden for private universities and vocational schools
Provide child allowances of 15,000 yen per month and 180,000 yen per year for all children up to age 18
Improve the working conditions of elementary and junior high school teachers, correct long working hours, and promote smaller classes
Promote free preschool education and childcare, including for children aged 0 to 2
Abolish income restrictions on high school tuition fees, making them completely free
Support those who want to study by expanding public vocational training for re-learning and establishing a vacation system.
Support repayment of loan-type scholarships by deducting the repayment amount from income, expanding the repayment exemption system, and exempting interest.
Radically expand Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and University Operating Expenses to promote the development of research personnel based on stable employment.
Enhance the budget for basic research so that it can be carried out widely and continuously, not just in areas where short-term results are expected.
Regional revitalization
Introduce a mechanism to encourage public interest investment ("impact investment") by companies and investors toward a sustainable society
Increase the autonomy of local governments by restoring lump-sum grants, etc., and create vibrant regions
In order to ensure food security, upgrade the Farmers' Individual Income Compensation System and establish a new direct payment system focusing on farmland
Utilize digital technology, etc. to revitalize regions with medical care, nursing care, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and energy resources
In response to the extreme decline in the farming population, Support the regeneration and revitalization of local communities, including mountainous areas, by creating a system that makes it easier for city workers to switch to agriculture and creating a strong flow of people from cities to rural areas.
To accelerate the return to rural areas, implement migration measures that are tailored to the younger generation, working generation, and elderly.
Promote pre-disaster prevention measures such as earthquake resistance, river improvement, forest conservation, and maintenance and renewal of aging infrastructure, and an inclusive disaster prevention system that leaves no one behind.
Accelerate the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, focusing on the regeneration of livelihoods and communities, and working closely with victims and affected areas.
Work to create systems and infrastructure that take into account the needs of people with disabilities so that they can live independently in their communities with peace of mind, regardless of the type and degree of disability, age, or gender
Aim to eliminate all discrimination, such as gender, buraku, ethnicity, disability, and nationality
Realize a multicultural coexistence society in which citizens and foreign residents respect and support each other
Aim to create a society in which no one is driven to suicide. In particular, strengthen suicide prevention measures for children.
Other
Here are excerpts from the "Major Policy Items" of the PDF version of the Government Policy 2024 that mainly relate to important policies.
Finance and Taxation
Aim for fiscal soundness in the medium to long term by reforming both expenditures and revenues, such as securing financial resources through tax reform to correct disparities, allocating budgets in response to changes in administrative needs, appropriate execution, and increasing tax revenues through strengthening growth potential.
The Bank of Japan's price stability target will be changed from "2%" to "above 0%, and the government and the Bank of Japan will set a joint goal of "increasing real wages."
Regarding income tax, in order to revive a "thick middle class," the progressive tax rate will be strengthened, taking into full consideration concerns such as a decline in motivation to work and the outflow of human resources overseas. In light of the rise in nominal wages, necessary measures will be taken, such as raising minimum taxable income.
For financial income tax, we will keep the separate taxation system for the time being and introduce an excess progressive tax rate, and in the medium to long term we will introduce a comprehensive tax system.
For corporate tax, we will reform the tax system so that corporations are required to pay a proportionate share according to their profits. We will make the corporate tax rate reduction (15%) for small and medium-sized enterprises the standard.
To address the regressive nature of consumption tax, instead of the reduced tax rate system, we will introduce a tax credit with benefit (consumption tax refund system) that will tax credit with benefit a portion of the consumption tax paid by low- and middle-income earners, and provide a payment for the amount that cannot be deducted.
With regard to trigger clauses for fuel tax, etc., we will temporarily lift the freeze for the necessary period, taking into consideration the financial resources for reconstruction, so that they can be reliably activated when crude oil prices rise. The national government will compensate for the loss of local tax revenues (local gasoline tax, diesel collection tax) that will result from the activation of the law.
Foreign Affairs and Security
On December 20, 2022, the Constitutional Democratic Party released a document titled "Directions for Foreign Affairs and Security Strategy," which outlines the party's systematic foreign and security policies. Please also refer to this document.[71].
We will adhere to the three non-nuclear principles. As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during war, we will work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons through such means as observer participation in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
NATO-style nuclear sharing is not realistic, either in terms of capabilities or in light of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and will not be accepted. We will deepen Japan-U.S. Extended Deterrence Consultations.
There is no doubt, historically or under international law, that the Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of our country's territory, and Japan currently has effective control over them. There are no territorial issues surrounding the islands that need to be resolved, and we will continue to maintain and manage them peacefully and stably. We will resolutely respond to any attempts to change the status quo by force.
As for the Northern Territories, which are our country's inherent territory, we will continue to seek negotiations with Russia based on the various agreements between Japan and Russia to date and the principles of law and justice, in order to resolve the issue of the attribution of the four islands and conclude a peace treaty.
As for the issue of Takeshima, which is our country's inherent territory, we will persistently seek a peaceful resolution in accordance with international law.
The peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is closely related to the peace and stability of our country, and it is of utmost importance that the cross-strait issue be resolved peacefully. To that end, we will advance diplomatic efforts, security cooperation in peacetime, constant surveillance of the areas surrounding our country, information gathering, and high-level information exchange.
Social Security
Create a new rent subsidy system to ensure peace of mind in housing
Review the upper limit of social insurance contributions and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share
Work Style
Enact the Basic Labor Law (tentative name) and make "direct employment without fixed term" the basic principle of employment
No new construction of nuclear power plants will be permitted. Establish a system to carry out decommissioning work under national control.
Develop an effective evacuation plan, and do not allow the restart of nuclear power plants without local consent
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Shift from the "neoliberal agricultural policy" led by the Prime Minister's Office that the LDP administration has implemented, and promote regional policies rooted in the unique characteristics of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries and the history of our country's rural agricultural, mountain and fishing communities in conjunction with business stabilization measures
Constitution and Imperial Succession
On November 19, 2020, the Constitutional Democratic Party also compiled a stance paper on constitutional reform titled "Guidelines for constitutional debate," which can also be found here[72].
We will advance "constitutional debate" based on the basic principles of the current constitution and constitutionalism. We will actively engage in discussions that will limit state power and contribute to expanding the rights of the people.
We will deepen the discussion on restrictions on the dissolution of the House of Representatives by the Cabinet, specifying the deadline for convening an extraordinary Diet session, strengthening each House's right to investigate national affairs, the government's obligation to disclose information, and strengthening local autonomy.
The LDP proposal to leave the current Article 9 of the Constitution intact and specify the Self-Defense Forces will come into play, as the basic principle of legal interpretation that later laws take precedence over earlier laws will come into play, and Article 9, paragraph 2, which stipulates that military forces will not be possessed and the right to wage war will lose its legal binding force, and it could become possible to exercise even the full-scale right of collective self-defense, which will nullify pacifism and we oppose it.
In order to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the national referendum and to create an environment in which the public can make decisions based on accurate information, we will regulate advertising broadcasts, paid internet advertising, campaign funds, donations from foreigners, etc., and will also regulate the national investment. Amend the National Referendum Law to include measures to ensure the proper use of the Internet for voting.
In the event of an emergency that occurs when the House of Representatives is dissolved or the term of office expires and there are no members of the House of Representatives, Article 54, Clause 2 of the Constitution of Japan provides that an emergency session of the House of Councillors can substitute for the functions of the Diet. In addition, individual laws have been established to deal with emergencies, such as the Basic Disaster Countermeasures Act, so there is no need to include new emergency clauses in the Constitution, including the extension of the term of office of members of parliament.
To ensure stable succession to the Imperial Throne and the creation of a female Imperial family, hold discussions to carefully, rather than hastily, reach a consensus among the people based on the "summary of issues" of the Constitutional Democratic Party's "Committee on Stable Imperial Succession."
^ abcThe "old CDP" was founded on 3 October 2017[1] as a split from the Democratic Party and dissolved on 14 September 2020,[2] while the current party was founded on 15 September 2020[3] as a merger of the old CDP, the majority of the Democratic Party For the People and some independent lawmakers.
^日本に定着するか、政党のカラー [Will the colors of political parties settle in Japan?]. 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). Nikkei, Inc. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2019. 立憲民主党は青だ。 [Constitutional Democratic Party is blue.]
"Factbox: Main parties contesting Japan's lower house poll". Reuters. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. The centre-left CDPJ is Japan's largest opposition party. Although it was only formed last year, the CDPJ's roots lie in the Democratic Party of Japan, which succeeded in defeating the LDP-Komeito alliance in 2009, and held power for three years.
"Partisan Biases in U.S.-Japan Relations". Tokyo Review. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. For both the LDP and center-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (roughly the successors of the Democratic Party of Japan which governed from 2009-2012), the emphasis is much more on pragmatism than values.
"The Dialectics of March 11: A Decade After the Japan Tsunami". Los Angeles Review of Books. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. This situation would seem to be an opportunity for Japan's political left, which has begun to consolidate around the centrist Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. However, much like the ruling party, the opposition has been tainted by corporate influence and nepotism.
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