National Democratic Party of Japan leadership election: Yuichiro Tamaki defeated Mikihiko Hashimoto and was re-elected

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, 6th, Comprehensive Foreign News Report) Votes for the leadership election of Japan’s opposition National Democratic Party were opened today. The 57-year-old current representative (party leader) Yuichiro Tamaki was successfully re-elected after defeating the 30-year-old political vice chairman and Congressman Mikihiko Hashimoto. He also stated that he will continue to appoint the current secretary-general Hareba Kazuya.

The "Asahi Shimbun" reported that Tamaki has been the leader of the current National Democratic Party since 2020, and this time he was elected as the party leader for the third time. His term expires in September 2029.

In this election, he and Hashimoto started a one-on-one duel to compete for 159 points. The party's 53 MPs each hold 1 point; 386 local councilors and 49,578 party members and supporters hold 53 points each, for a total of 159 points.

The National Democratic Party opened votes in Tokyo today, and the results showed that party founder Tamaki won 127 points and Hashimoto won 32 points. Tamaki received the support of 42 members of Congress.

The National Democratic Party's demands so far have been "policy first" and "it is better to solve the problem than confrontation". Sometimes it is close to the ruling party, and sometimes it strengthens its confrontational stance in an attempt to show its presence.

"Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported that after Tamaki was re-elected today, he said, "I hope to develop the National Democratic Party into a larger and stronger political party that can gain the trust of the people." He said: "I hope that Hashimoto candidate's suggestions in this election will be used as assets to renew the National Democratic Party and be used for internal party reforms."

Facing the unified local elections in the spring of 2027 and the upper house election in the summer of 2028, the National Democratic Party aims to expand the party's power and hopes to double the number of local council members to 700. During the party leader election, Tamaki said that including members who do not need to be re-elected, they hope to obtain more than 40 seats in the upper house election.

Tamaki is also strengthening his stance against the Sanae government in Hidaka City. He told the media during the final stage of the party leadership election on the 2nd of this month, "Some issues have begun to appear in the government's domestic affairs and foreign policies that make people doubt their appropriateness."

In addition, in addition to opposing the consumption tax reduction bill, he also believes that the Japanese government's response to criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Etoshima Islands in Japan's so-called "Northern Territory" is "too weak."

The deal to merge the Central Road Reform Alliance (Chongmichi) with the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Komeito Party was thwarted. If the House of Representatives from the Cadet Party fails to form a unified faction with the House of Representatives from the Komeito Party, the National Democratic Party will become the leader of the opposition faction in the House of Representatives.