CDP Proposes DPFP Head Tamaki as Unified Opposition Candidate for PM

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)–The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on Wednesday proposed to opposition peer Democratic Party for the People that the non-government camp back DPFP head Yuichiro Tamaki as a unified candidate to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. CDP Secretary-General Jun Azumi conveyed the proposal to his counterpart from the DPFP, Kazuya Shinba, during the day’s meeting to discuss responses to the prime minister nomination election planned to be held at the beginning of the upcoming extraordinary parliamentary session. With discussions between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito facing difficulties over the continuation of their coalition, Azumi said that opposition parties should present a unified candidate. He added that Tamaki would be considered “a strong candidate” if opposition parties can agree to nominate him as their unified candidate. Shinba did not answer Azumi’s proposal right away, saying that he would discuss it with other party members. Meanwhile, Shinba told reporters after the meeting that the CDP and the DPFP have “absolutely different opinions” about the Constitution, security and other issues. “We are not interested in working with other parties based on calculations and numbers alone,” he added, showing a cautious stance toward cooperating with the CDP. The meeting was also attended by the parliamentary affairs chiefs of the two parties, Hirofumi Ryu from the CDP and Motohisa Furukawa from the DPFP. The CDP’s proposal is believed to be aimed at putting a brake on the LDP’s intensified outreach to the DPFP as a potential partner for expanding the coalition framework. Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday, Fumitake Fujita, co-leader of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), described the CDP’s stance of not sticking to making its head Yoshihiko Noda the unified opposition candidate for the next prime minister as “courageous.” But Fujita also suggested that there was “quite a high hurdle” for opposition parties to unite. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]