Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide plans to continue to value cooperation with the Japanese political party Nippon Ishin no Kai (the Japan Innovation Party) in implementing key policies and managing parliamentary affairs, even after the party’s key administrative reform initiative for Osaka was rejected in Sunday’s referendum. 

If Nippon Ishin, which shares views about some policies with Suga’s Liberal Democratic Party, loses its momentum in national politics because of the local referendum result, however, observers say a shadow may be cast over the prime minister’s handling of the government.

In response to local residents’ rejection of the so-called Osaka metropolis plan, Suga told reporters Monday that the referendum result “created a stir in the debate over the course of the country’s major city system,” apparently showing his consideration for Nippon Ishin, which pushed the administrative revamping in the western Japan city of Osaka.

The prime minister also suggested his unwavering stance on cooperation with Nippon Ishin in implementing regional revitalization and other policies by saying, “At a time when Japan is beginning the road to economic recovery, it would be important to have various discussions to revitalize regional economies.”

Suga, who has built a trusting relationship with Nippon Ishin leader Ichiro Matsui, mayor of Osaka, supported the efforts to bring the 2025 World Expo to Osaka Prefecture that proved successful and cooperated with Matsui in attracting a casino-featuring integrated resort to Osaka. The prime minister hopes to continue working together with Nippon Ishin in pursuing key policy goals including the one to make Japan an international financial center.

In managing parliamentary affairs, under the administration of Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, Suga’s LDP won Nippon Ishin’s cooperation over anticonspiracy and other controversial legislation. Suga apparently hopes to retain the backing from Nippon Ishin, regarding the party as a supplementary force to his administration.

The Osaka metropolis plan called for scrapping the city of Osaka and reorganizing it into four “special wards” with the aim of eliminating overlapping administration between prefectural and city governments,

While the LDP’s Osaka prefectural chapter opposed the plan, Suga, in answering a question from Toranosuke Katayama, coleader of Nippon Ishin, at a House of Councillors plenary meeting on Oct. 30, said, “I recognize the plan as a major reform of the country’s big city system that seeks to eliminate overlapping administration and enhance residents’ self-governing capabilities.”

As Suga pins his hope on continued cooperation with Nippon Ishin, Matsui’s plan to retire from politics when his current term as Osaka mayor expires in 2023 is expected to deal a blow to the Suga administration.

Observers say Nippon Ishin, hit hard by the referendum defeat, may reduce its seats in the House of Representatives in the chamber’s election that will be held within a year. This means that the prime minister may see a fall in the number of supporters in parliament.

Nippon Ishin, which has strength in the Kansai western region, is now pressed to review its conventional strategy to field candidates in wider areas to become a “nationwide political party.” Another focus is on whether the party can find a new leader who would be a match for Matsui in terms of unifying power and charisma.

Other opposition parties are closely watching the course of Nippon Ishin’s reconstruction efforts, trying to figure out whether the party will continue to be a supplementary force to the government or will increase cooperation with others in the opposition camp.

JIJI Press