| Leader: | Seiji Maehara |
| Colors: | Blue |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Split: | Democratic Party for the People |
| Dissolution: | 3 October 2024 |
| Merged: | Nippon Ishin no Kai[1] |
| Leader2 Title: | Deputy Leader |
| Leader2 Name: | Yukiko Kada |
| Leader3 Title: | Secretary General |
| Leader3 Name: | Hisashi Tokunaga |
| Foundation: | 30 November 2023 |
| Country: | Japan |
| Abbreviation: | FEFA |
Free Education For All (Japanese: 教育無償化を実現する会, Kyōiku mushō-ka o jitsugen suru Kai, lit. "Party to Realize Free Education") was a political party in Japan founded in 2023 by former members of the Democratic Party for the People.[2] [3] [4]
The party advocated for free education, raising the minimum wage, welfare policies and constitutional revision.
Seiji Maehara and several in the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) have criticized DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki for aligning their party to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, particularly in cooperation between both parties on legislation, which Maehara strongly disapproves. In November 2023, the DPP supported the LDP's supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2024 aimed at financing the latest economic stimulus package advocated by the Kishida cabinet.[5]
On 30 November 2023, Maehara in a press conference announced that he, alongside four other members (Yukiko Kada, Hisashi Tokunaga, Alex Saito and Atsushi Suzuki) would resign as members of the DPP and form Free Education For All. Maehara expressed his intentions to cooperate with Japan's opposition parties in order to "create an option for a change of government."[6] He repeatedly criticized his old party, the DPP for its cooperative nature with the LDP.[7] On 13 December 2023, the DPP decided to officially expel Maehara and the four other members from the party. The DPP also demanded Saito and Suzuki, who were elected through proportional representation, resign as members of the House of Representatives as they had initially won their seats through the party.[8] On 3 October 2024, the party merged into Nippon Ishin no Kai, with all, but Atsushi Suzuki, running under the Ishin banner.[9]
The party described itself as pacifist, constitutionalist, reformist and for popular sovereignty. The party's leader, Maehara stated that he aspires to play a role in bringing together Japan's opposition parties against the LDP, similar to what former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa accomplished in successfully forming a coalition in the aftermath of the 1993 general election.[10]
In a Sankei Shimbun article, the party published its manifesto which included the following pledges:
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Leader | Seiji Maehara | |
| Deputy leader | Yukiko Kada | |
| Secretary-General | Hisashi Tokunaga | |
| Chairman of Political Affairs Research | Alex Saito | |
| Chairman of the National Assembly Policy Committee | Atsushi Suzuki |
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Constituency | Took office | Left office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split from: Democratic Party For the People | ||||||||
| 1 | Seiji Maehara (b. 1962) | Rep for Kyoto 2nd | 30 November 2023 | 3 October 2024 | Kishida | |||
| Ishiba | ||||||||