New Frontier Party (Japan)

The New Progressive Party (Japanese新 进 党Shinshinto, english New Frontier Party, NFP ) was a political party in Japan from 1994 to 1997 and in that time the second largest party after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP).

The Shinshinto was created in 1994 as a pooling of opposition forces, after a joint government without the LDP had failed after a short time. The founding congress was held on 10 December 1994 and joined the Revival Party, the House of Representatives who had recently split Kōmeitō (organized in the Kōmeishintō (公 明 新 党) ), the New Japan Party, the Democratic Socialist Party and the Liberal Reform Association (自由 改革 连 合Jiyu Rengo Kaikaku ), an association of conservative factions in the lower house.

Party Leader of the Shinshinto was the former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, who had left the LDP in June 1994 and Chairman of the Federal Liberal reform was. Secretary General was Ichirō Ozawa ( previously Secretary General of the Revival Party ); the deputy party chairmen were Tsutomu Hata, Takashi Yonezawa and Koshiro Ishida.

The first major popularity test for the Shinshinto were the Upper House elections in 1995. Shinshinto The received 40 seats (17 of its deputies were not choice) and thus she claimed, now with a total of 57 deputies her status as the strongest opposition party.

In December 1995 Ichirō Ozawa was elected party chairman. In the following general election in 1996, the first under the new electoral law, the party won 156 seats and the ruling coalition of the LDP, the Social Democrats and Sakigake maintained its majority just barely.

Then began internal disputes Shinshinto gradually dissolve. In December 1996, Tsutomu Hata and Keiwa Okuda left the party, half a year later, in June 1997, Morihiro Hosokawa went. The dispute about the law on party funding ultimately led to the end of 1997, finally dissolving the Shinshinto. Many of its members joined the Democratic Party ( DPJ ), which supporters of party leader Ozawa organized themselves into the Liberal Party, some returned to the LDP.

Some prefectural associations continued to exist and later joined one of the two major parties to. The Shinshin Ishikawa Prefecture joined in 2009 the Association of the Democratic Party in, but there is a faction in Parliament Prefecture on.