2026 POLLS: Sanseito Aims to Boost Lower House Seats by 10-Fold

Tokyo, Jan. 23 (Jiji Press)–Sanseito aims to boost the number of its House of Representatives seats by 10-fold in next month’s election for the all-important parliamentary chamber in Japan, in order to gain momentum to realize its policies, Sohei Kamiya, leader of the rising opposition party, said in an interview. “Our goal is to secure 30 seats,” Kamiya said. “We hope to be in a position where bills can’t pass without our party’s support,” he said. Sanseito made big advances in last year’s election for the House of Councillors, the upper parliamentary chamber. Kamiya said the upcoming election will “determine whether we can compete with other parties on equal footing in the Lower House.” “Our party’s plan to field candidates in all prefectures will allow us to dig up votes,” he said. “The deciding factor on whether we will secure a victory will be on whether we can increase voter turnout beyond the levels of the Upper House election.” Asked about whether his party will consider joining the ruling coalition, Kamiya said, “We’d like to assess the election results and figure out what to do.” On the Centrist Reform Alliance, a new opposition party recently formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, Kamiya said that Sanseito hopes to secure a sufficient number of Lower House seats so as to compete “at least on equal terms.” The biggest focus in the campaigning will be on a consumption tax cut and an aggressive fiscal policy, he said. Sanseito will advocate for a phasing out of consumption tax, he said. Kamiya said Sanseito opposes only exempting food from the tax because of the impact on local economies that rely on the restaurant and bar industry. The tax rate “should be lowered across the board,” he said. He also said that his party will call for restrictions on the number of non-Japanese citizens in Japan to prevent it from becoming an immigrant country. Kamiya said that while public expectations for the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are high, it is “still lacking something.” Sanseito can agree to some policies being pursued by Takaichi, Kamiya said. “While we have no intention to curry favor with the LDP, we’ll support such policies,” he said of the prime minister’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Asked how to address election-related disinformation and misinformation on social media, Kamiya emphasized the need to improve media literacy of the receiving end, rather than imposing regulations of those who send out such information. “Although penalties should be imposed on human rights violations, excessive regulations should not be established in consideration of freedom of expression,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]