Voters Show Mixed Reactions to New Centrist Party's Stump Speeches

Tokyo, Jan. 25 (Jiji Press)--Audiences showed varied reactions to stump speeches throughout Japan by prospective candidates of the Centrist Reform Alliance, created by former rival parties just before Friday's dissolution of the House of Representatives for a snap election.

On the day after the dissolution, the new party, formed by two opposition forces--the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, took to the streets in an effort to get its policies across ahead of the imminent election of the all-important lower chamber of the country's parliament, which will take place on Feb. 8, only 16 days after the dissolution, the shortest such period since the end of World War II.

Yoshihiko Noda, co-chief of the new party, stood atop a campaign vehicle bearing a brand-new blue sign displaying the party's name in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, declaring, "We will support middle-income and low-income earners based on the principle of putting ordinary people first."

A 77-year-old unemployed woman from the same ward, who had previously supported the CDP, listened to Noda's speech with a look of disbelief, saying: "I never really liked Komeito. It's just an election-focused party. How long do you think it will last?"

Meanwhile, Tota Matsui, a 29-year-old office worker from Tokyo's Nakano Ward, positively evaluated the new party's formation, saying, "I think they managed to come together in a way that both parties could accept."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]