44 Japanese Lawmakers Form New Party, Make Bid to Left

Declaring that they want to build a “new Japan,” 44 lawmakers who defected from the governing party formed their own group Wednesday and said they are willing to unite with leftists in a coalition government.

Defections this week from the Liberal Democratic Party--10 other former LDP legislators launched another new party Monday--may cripple the party that has led Japan since 1955.

The scandal-plagued Liberal Democrats face being ousted from power in the July 18 election.

The New Life Party, created Wednesday, is led by former Finance Minister Tsutomu Hata, a veteran of Japan’s trade wars with the United States.

“Each one of us has a sense of mission--that we must become the core of a new government,” Hata told hundreds of reporters packing his party’s first news conference.

Hata’s conservative party seeks a more assertive style of politics that replaces back-room deals with policy debates. It also advocates greater participation in international peacekeeping and says Japan must change to reflect its greater affluence and global power.

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, in Tokyo for international trade talks, told reporters he would welcome any administration that “would advocate opening markets and expanding trade.”

But Hata, seen as a likely contender for prime minister, is known for his strong opposition to Washington’s demands that Japan open its markets to American products, especially rice.

Although the New Life Party did not mention trade disputes in its press conference or its statement of principles, its members have indicated that the new party would not be pliant if it gained power.

Japan has insisted that to reduce the trade imbalance, the United States cut its government budget deficit, do more to encourage savings and improve its education system to make its industries more competitive.

The July 18 elections were forced after Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa lost a no-confidence vote Friday in the lower house of Parliament.

The vote was to censure Miyazawa for not carrying out a promise to enact measures to curb political corruption.

The New Life Party promised to clean up politics by ending the Liberal Democrats’ grip on power.

On Monday, 10 other former Liberal Democrat legislators created a new party.

Two additional legislators also have quit the party.