With the campaign kicking off soon for the Aug. 30 election, Social Democratic Party President Mizuho Fukushima said Wednesday her party intends to appeal to voters by upholding its long-held positions — even if this keeps the SDP from joining a ruling bloc with the predicted winner, the Democratic Party of Japan.
Fukushima said that although the SDP plans to work with the DPJ during the campaign, it won't compromise on key positions that have defined the minor opposition party down the years — improving public welfare, maintaining the pacifist Constitution and upholding the three nonnuclear principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese territory.
The DPJ could win a simple majority, but even so it would still need the cooperation of smaller opposition parties to stay among the majority in the Upper House, and the SDP is considered a potential key partner.