The National Power Research Group held its inaugural meeting on Thursday, attended by some of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party¡¯s heaviest hitters and 347 sitting lawmakers.
Although the name implies discussions for shaping Japan¡¯s future direction, circumstances suggest the group is intended less as a policy forum than as a mechanism for intraparty stability and cohesion under the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Following a massive influx of first-term lawmakers after the February landslide Lower House election and the weakening of the LDP¡¯s traditional factional system amid the 2023 money scandals, the party has struggled to recreate the mechanisms that once managed internal competition. The emergence of the National Power Research Group?¡ª also known as JiB, shorthand for ¡°Japan is Back¡±?¡ª appears to be an attempt to fill that vacuum through a new, less formalized political network.
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