Difficult road to rebuilding the nation, difficult finances, no rally in sight

The Constitutional Democratic Party, which is made up of members of the House of Councilors and local councilors, is rushing to rebuild the party with an eye on next spring's unified local elections and the summer 2028 House of Councilors election. The party aims to unite with Democratic-affiliated members of the House of Representatives who have moved to the Centrist Reform Alliance, but no concrete prospects are in sight. The company is struggling with financial difficulties and faces a difficult road ahead.

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"I want to work together with former members of the House of Representatives to form a solid body that can fight." At a press conference on the 13th, Ritsumeikan representative Shunichi Mizuoka expressed his intention to explore merging with the Democratic Reform Group, which was formed by Ritsumeikan members of the House of Representatives in response to the dissolution of the Centrist Party in September.

The background lies in the difficult situation surrounding the party. Thirty-nine members of the House of Councilors belong to the Ritsumeikan Party, and it is the largest opposition party in the House of Councilors, but public opinion polls conducted by media outlets show that its approval rating is between 1% and 4%.

With the formation of the Centrist Party in January, members of the House of Representatives left the party, and political party grants, which account for a large portion of the party's income, have plummeted. At the end of September, the party decided to reduce the leased space at the Miyakezaka Building in Nagatacho, Tokyo, where the party headquarters is located, from six floors to one floor as a cost-cutting measure. Approximately 30 party employees were also invited to voluntarily retire.

Ritsumeikan decided not to join the Chudo and New Komeito parties in light of the persistent views of caution among local assembly members. At that time, Mizuoka stated, ``I would like to unite forces aiming for a change of government by the end of next year's regular Diet session.''

However, it will not be easy to unite the Ritsumeikan group. Democratic Reform Secretary-General Takeshi Kai expressed the recognition that it is necessary for the Democratic Party to accept the ideals and policies advocated by the Chudo.

Differences in positions on basic policies such as national security and nuclear power plants also became a bottleneck in the three-party talks. A Ritsumeikan official expressed displeasure, saying, ``Even though we said we can't join the Chudo movement, it's impossible for us to be asked to rally under the Chudo banner again.''

The House of Representatives is not monolithic either. Twenty-one people won seats in the House of Representatives election, but 18 of them joined the democratic reform movement. One remained at Nakamichi to handle clearing operations, and the other two became independents. In terms of democratic reform, while there are voices that are positive about joining with the Democratic Party of Japan, there are also opinions that call for the unification of a wide range of opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of the People.

There is a growing view within both the Ritsumeikan and Democratic Reform groups that there is a limit to how far it can survive on its own. However, there seems to be no strong leadership to rebuild the party, and a middle-ranking RDP representative says, ``If things continue like this, it will be difficult to even run a unified election.''