INTERVIEW: Team Mirai to Mull Joining Govt if Requested

Tokyo, April 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese opposition party Team Mirai will consider whether to join the ruling coalition if requested to do so by the Liberal Democratic Party, leader Takahiro Anno said in a recent interview with Jiji Press. “A model in which various political parties gradually reorganize their alliances is good” for Japanese politics, but an LDP-led ruling coalition is “realistic in the short term,” Anno said. If the main ruling party calls on Team Mirai to enter government, the matter “will always be on the agenda,” he said. “We would make a final decision after weighing the potential gains and losses,” Anno said. He pointed out that the LDP has little incentive to make concessions as it holds over two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. “We would have to take a hard look at how big the gains are.” Anno said that the main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance is aiming to realize a two-party system in Japan, which differs from Team Mirai’s philosophy that a multiparty system is desirable. He expressed skepticism about the proposed consolidation of opposition forces, saying it would hinder individual parties’ appeals. Team Mirai has grown rapidly since Anno founded it last May, holding 11 seats in the Lower House and one seat in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament. “We need a few more seats to implement digital democracy,” he said, expressing a desire to control 21 seats in the Lower House and 11 seats in the Upper House, the minimum number of seats required to submit bills to parliament without support from other lawmakers. “It’s a level that can be achieved while maintaining our current stance without making excessive efforts to expand,” Anno said of the seat target. “It’s a realistically attainable size.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]