New Party Sakigake
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The New Party Sakigake (新党さきがけ Shinto Sakigake) was a Japanese political party that broke away from the Liberal Democratic Party on June 22, 1993. The party was created by Takemaru Masayoshi. The party, like the LDP, was a right-wing, conservative party, except it had many reformist and even moderate ecologist elements.
In 1994, New Party Sakigake took part in the government of Murayama Tomiichi, a government coalition of the Liberal Democrats and the Japan Socialist Party, which replaced the liberal coalition headed the previous year by the Japan Renewal Party. The New Party Sakigake took part in the government.
The Sakigake Party took part in the government of Murayama Tomiichi, which was basically a government coalition with the LDP and the Japan Socialist Party.
In 1997, the New Party Sakigake had 2 members in the House of Representatives and 3 members in the House of Councillors, which was good for them, especially after the LDP became the ruling party again. However, it decided to moderate its stance, and, because of the power of the ecologist and reformist factions, the conservatives decided to reform the party.
Thus, in 1998, the party changed its name to The Sakigake Party. In 2002, the party again changed its name to Midori no kaigi, the Environmental Green Political Assembly, which itself dissolved on June 22, 2004, mainly because of the failiure of the party to win any seats in that year's elections - thus spelling the end to the Sakigake movement in Japanese politics.
The party gained its followers mainly from white collar bureaucrats and ecologists. It was a conservative reformist party with ecologist elements.