Draft:Assembly of Independents

The Assembly of Independents (無所属の会) was a political group in Japan. The group initially formed as the House of Councillors Club in November 1998, and renamed to become the Assembly of Independents in 1999. The party won five seats in the 2000 general election, exclusively in FPTP seats, but won nothing in the 2001 House of Councillors election. They fell to just one seat in the 2003 general election, and the party dissolved shortly after they won nothing in the 2004 House of Councillors election.

Overview
The main purpose of the group was not to become a new political party. Instead, it mainly functioned as a place for political independents to go, and also served as a haven for politicians who hadn't opted to join with any specific new party at the time, such as the Democratic Party of Japan, Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, and more. As such, the group was not necessarily ideological in nature; it also governed differently from other parties, as there was no recruitment of party members or party membership system. Despite the lack of ideological nature, many of the politicians who joined the group were ultimately centrist or liberal splinters from the LDP or the now-gone New Frontier Party.

There were multiple reasons for the necessity of the group. Independents were disadvantaged in many ways even after the 1994 Japanese electoral reform established FPTP districts. These included:
 * Overall disadvantage in elections due to lack of party behind candidate
 * Political opinion broadcasts are not possible in single-seat constituencies as an independent
 * Unable to put up posters as a political party due to lack of one
 * Few allocations for street advertising vehicles, which is a mainstay of campaigning in Japan
 * Cannot accept political donations from corporations
 * Not eligible for political party grants, where the national treasury subsidizes parties.

The group was formed to attempt to solve these issues for independents who wished to stay unbound to a party platform. Many of the politicians inside the group would go on to join the Democratic Party of Japan after the dissolution, with some rejoining the LDP.