As Japan gears up for an anticipated snap election at the end of October, Kansai politicians and parties are staking out their positions on issues of national interest but with their eyes very much on local political needs.
For the Osaka-centered Nippon Ishin no Kai, technically an opposition party but very close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and their allies in the Liberal Democratic Party, an uneasy alliance with Komeito at the local level means the party is limited in the number of candidates it can field for single-seat districts.
Nippon Ishin has 15 seats in the Lower House, and its leaders have set an election goal of at least 21, which will be enough to introduce their own bills.
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