Former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa, who bolted the DPJ to protest against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to eventually double the consumption tax rate from the current 5 percent to 10 percent from October 2015, inaugurated a new party on July 11 together with 36 other Lower House members and 12 Upper House members.
In the Lower House, his new party is the No. 3 party, following the DPJ and the Liberal Democratic Party. Whether the new party can grow in strength depends on its ability to work out attractive and effective policy measures.
This is the fourth time that Mr. Ozawa has formed a new party. According to a Kyodo News poll in early July, only 15.9 percent of those polled said they put their hopes in Mr. Ozawa's new party.