TOKYO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Six former members of the main opposition Democratic Party submitted to the internal affairs ministry on Tuesday an application to officially form a new political party.
While former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will act as head of the party, former health and welfare minister Akira Nagatsuma submitted the document to establish the party to be called the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
Edano had previously said he was launching a new party because Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike had said that her newly-formed Kibo no To (Party of Hope) would not accept all Democrats wanting to join, in an agreement made between herself and Democratic Party leader Seiji Maehara.
Koike had stated that all candidates wanting to run from the essentially disbanded Democratic Party on the Party of Hope's ticket in the Oct. 22 lower house election would be vetted for suitability.
The checklist of requirements for candidates to meet centered around them upholding similar views as her party's, including those on constitutional amendment and issues pertaining to security.
Edano, for his part, has said his new party's policies differ from Koike's and would accept Democrats that uphold the party's original liberal principals.
Nagatsuma, meanwhile, told a press briefing on the matter that he has been encouraged that his group has been able to come up with a way of competing in the upcoming lower house election, without having to compromise their fundamental ideologies.
He said the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan will field candidates across Japan. He also said the party would coordinate its policies with a civic group called the Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitution.
He added that his group will be looking for new ways to bolster ties with other opposition parties, going forward.
Campaigning for the lower house election officially begins on October 10th.
As of Tuesday evening, political observers here said the contest is shaping up to be a race between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior Komeito coalition ally, the Party of Hope and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party.
