Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, also head of Osaka Ishin-no Kai (Osaka Restoration Association), a local party, on Sept. 12 declared the establishment of Nippon Ishin-no Kai (Japan Restoration Party). Basically his local party was upgraded a party for national-level politics.
The new party reportedly hopes to field 350 to 400 candidates in a coming Lower House election. Clearly targeting the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Hashimoto said that his party's raison d'etre is to provide a third choice for people.
Although Mr. Hashimoto later retracted the statement, he once said that an election is giving a sort of carte blanche to the elected. This kind of thinking can lead the elected to believe that they have been invested with full power and can carry out politics as they wish, ignoring the true will of the people.