Your Party (みんなの党, Minna no Tō; lit. 'Everyone's Party') was a political party in Japan led by Yoshimi Watanabe from 2009 until its dissolution in 2014. The party was founded after Watanabe split from the Liberal Democratic Party, with the aim of making the government more democratic and reducing bureaucratic control of policymaking. Your Party was generally described as centre-right, conservative, and neoliberal, advocating lower taxation, free trade, smaller government, and reduced regulation. The party won seats in both houses of the National Diet following the 2009 and 2010 elections and expanded its representation in 2012 before dissolving in November 2014 amid falling support and internal disagreement over the upcoming general election.
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History
Led by Yoshimi Watanabe, who split from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the party was founded on August 8, 2009 after then-Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the lower house. One concept behind the party was to make the government more democratic, and to eliminate control of the government by non-elected members established in the bureaucracy. In this respect, Watanabe has repeatedly stated that his position is compatible with the Democratic Party of Japan.
Your Party advocated lower taxation, free enterprise, smaller government, and less regulation.
The party fielded 13 candidates in the August 2009 general elections. Five of those candidates were elected to the lower house. In the 2010 house of Councillors election, it gained 10 seats. It also made gains at the 2011 regional elections, and in the 2012 general election, where it increased its seats from eight in the lower house to eighteen.
Following an announcement by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe for an election to be held in December 2014, the party's 20 members voted on November 19, 2014 to disband on November 28, 2014. Falling support and disagreement over whether to side with the ruling coalition in the upcoming election were identified as reasons for the split.
Ideology and policies
The Your party has been described as centre-right, conservative, neoliberal, and economically liberal. The party's policies focused on fiscal reforms such as tax cuts, free trade, budget cuts, anti-deflation measures, financial liberalisation, and increased government involvement in the Bank of Japan's policy-making. The party also supported administrative reforms aimed at smaller government and transferring power from central ministries to local governments.