2026 POLLS: DPFP Chief Tamaki to Assess New Centrist Party

Tokyo, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)–Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, has indicated that he will carefully assess developments surrounding a new party formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, also opposition parties, before deciding whether to cooperate with it after the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election. Asked about the possibility of forming a coalition government with the new party–the Centrist Reform Alliance–after the election for the all-important lower chamber of Japan’s parliament, Tamaki said in an interview on Wednesday, “It’s a good thing for Japanese politics as a whole that (the CDP) has aligned itself closer to Komeito in terms of security and energy policies.” At the same time, Tamaki said that some within the new party have already said that they will uphold a goal to aim for a country without nuclear power plants, despite the new party adopting a softer energy policy stance of aiming for a society that does not rely on nuclear power in the future. “We plan to carefully assess (the new party) as a whole, including on what it’ll do about the House of Councillors,” the upper chamber, Tamaki added. The Centrist Reform Alliance was formed only with Lower House lawmakers from the CDP, the largest opposition party, and Komeito, former coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. For the upcoming Lower House election, Tamaki said that the DPFP will aim to secure 51 seats and nine million proportional representation votes. The party currently holds 26 Lower House seats. “Occupying 51 (Lower House) seats would enable our party to submit a bill involving a government budget and a no-confidence motion against the cabinet on our own,” he said, adding that the goal is “a yardstick of becoming a full-fledged political party.” “We hope to reach out to people who believe that opposition parties are incapable of realizing policies by appealing to them that we can,” he said, expressing his desire to maintain a situation where the LDP has no choice but to respond to his party’s policy demands. The DPFP will vow to scrap the income restrictions related to the planned hike of the minimum taxable income threshold for income tax and also raise the income threshold for resident tax, he said. Furthermore, the party will pledge to reduce the social insurance premium burden, which mostly falls on the working generation, he added. On the LDP and the Centrist Reform Alliance both eyeing a suspension of consumption tax on food items, Tamaki said that such a measure would take at least two years to be realized, meaning that it would not reach people who are currently facing hardships due to soaring prices. Emphasizing that the negative impact of rising interest rates has also materialized, Tamaki said, “We hope to take the fight (to other parties) through our cost-of-living relief measures that are immediately effective.” The combination of a minority government and constructive opposition parties has pushed policies forward, as shown in the abolition of the provisional gasoline and diesel tax surcharges, Tamaki noted. “The last two years have clearly shown that a stable LDP does not equal a true stability in politics,” he said. Asked about whether the DPFP will join forces with the ruling coalition of the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party, Tamaki said that the country’s political landscape is “entering an era of a multiparty system.” “It’s important that we maintain an environment in which the government cannot move forward unless it listens to a wide range of public opinions, regardless of whether we join the ruling camp or not,” Tamaki said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]