Harumi-san's Leadership Election Part 1: Until the Candidacy

Hello everyone!
I am Natsumi Sakai, a nurse, midwife, mother of one, and member of the House of Representatives.

The Constitutional Democratic Party Leadership Election Begins

The leadership election started today.
A new party leader will be decided on the 23rd.
(This election is due to the expiration of Representative Izumi's term.)

We have been running around since mid-August to support Harumi Yoshida's candidacy.

It was a nail-biting experience, with nominators gathering 30 minutes before the press conference and submitting the candidacy papers one minute before the deadline.

I witnessed the drama of politics.

The moment Harumi-san spoke at the press conference, I cried quietly.
Exhausted from having barely slept, Harumi-san spoke brilliantly at the conference.
I am truly glad I could see Harumi-san standing there.
Harumi-san, thank you for not giving up.
You are the shining star of the Constitutional Democratic Party.
I would like to express my respect and gratitude once again.

And, it is thanks to many of you that she was able to run.

Many people, including fellow and senior members of parliament from other camps, party leadership, local government members, party members, and partners, cared about this and took action.

To all the media members covering the opposition parties, thank you so much for your hard work day after day.

The Beginning

The beginning was around August 15th, the day of the end of the war, when the National Memorial Service for the War Dead was held.

It started with discussions between Harumi Yoshida, who is also elected from Tokyo,Yosuke Suzuki, and myself.
I thought that a woman should run, and that not only senior members but also young and mid-career members should run, so I told her, 'I want you to run, Harumi-san. I will follow you!'

Then, voices of expectation began to arrive, calling for young people and women to step forward, and gradually, in response to those voices, Harumi-san solidified her intention to run. (I have watched her proceed carefully while consulting and reporting to various people.)

And on August 25th, I attended the candidacy briefing session.
That led to Harumi Yoshida's announcement of her intention to run.

By that time,Yutaka AraiandKatsuhiko Yamada(both of whom are first-term members of the House of Representatives along with Harumi-san) had also joined us!

Harumi-san's Thoughts

As Harumi-san has stated many times,
'I want to spark discussions from the perspective of young people and women who are not tainted by Nagatacho. I want the Constitutional Democratic Party to be a free, lively, and diverse party where even a first-term member can raise their hand for the leadership election.'

At the press conference, she said,
'When I raised my hand for the leadership election, I was told it was absolutely impossible. I was told that in the common sense of Nagatacho, a challenge from a first-term member is unthinkable, and various things happened during this time. The form of politics I want to create is a politics that is not bound by past political customs, a truly life-sized politics.'

Furthermore, she stated, 'What I want to appeal in this leadership election is thatEducation x Economy, that will lead to raising the standard of living for the peopleis a virtuous cycle, and I want to appeal for this.'

'Education, this brings out people's potential. It is a truly important area.'She spoke to the children of Japan who face difficulties in living such as suicide, withdrawal, and school non-attendance, and have low happiness levels, saying, 'First of all, I want to realize education that firmly supports the next generation of children, education where you don't have to worry, and free education.' She said she would tackle the declining birthrate, which is progressing 10 years ahead of the government's forecast, with a sense of speed, andwill firmly realize free education.

She stated that 'education and the economy cannot be thought of separately,' and that continuous strengthening of education is important to build the power to create innovation.

'On theeconomic side, the first thing we must do is raise the standard of living for the people. It is an increase in income,' she also said, and indicated her intention to aim fora national uniform minimum wage of 1500 yen.

The high hurdle of 20 nominators

Securing 20 nominators was a high hurdle, and we did not know if we would gather them until just before the deadline.

In the midst of this, a great source of strength was having House of Representatives member Masaharu Nakagawa join our campaign headquarters.

He supported us with great tolerance and kindness, utilizing his experience and connections as a veteran.
I am sincerely grateful.

Now, about the nominators.

Although we had been gradually increasing the number, we were still a few short.

We negotiated with the Eda camp, which was also exploring candidacy, with every Diet member from veterans to those in the same cohort, and we kept asking the Diet members who called to check on us.

Even if they say they are rooting for you, some people will not become nominators. There were times we were told they would not become a nominator for anyone.

Although we were powered up by the addition of House of Councillors members Ayaka Shiomura and Masayoshi Okumura from the Tokyo Metropolitan Federation, we were still running around trying to secure nominators late into the night yesterday.
It was getting late, and we couldn't even make phone calls anymore...
Although I was prepared for it to take until the very last minute, the anxiety and fear as the time limit approached were real.

It was around 1:00 AM when we left the Diet members' office building in Nagatacho, saying, 'Let's call it a night and try our best again in the morning.'

During this time, I think Harumi-san must have been under a lot of immense pressure.
I believe she experienced anxiety, conflict, and at times, even humiliation.

This morning, we negotiated again with the camp of House of Representatives member Kenji Eda and others, and we were able to unify by aligning our policies with the Eda camp.

They compromised, and gave Harumi-san a great opportunity.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude.

I believe this experience helped us grow, made us stronger, and was very valuable for seeing a new landscape.

Time to start

And so, we finally reached the starting line.

The candidates (in order of filing) for the Constitutional Democratic Party representative election are as follows.

Yoshihiko Noda, House of Representatives member

Yukio Edano, House of Representatives member

Kenta Izumi, Member of the House of Representatives

Harumi Yoshida, Member of the House of Representatives

I must get through today's schedule like a raging torrent.

Press conferences, candidate debates, travel to local areas, and repeating that (plus street speeches).

Although I believed I could run, it is a fact that I was on the edge, and the lack of preparation during the election is clear...

From here on, I want to strengthen the team's unity and make a comeback.

I humbly ask for your support for candidate Harumi Yoshida!