EXCLUSIVE: Moves Emerge to Create New Opposition Party in Japan

Tokyo, May 31 (Jiji Press)–Moves to launch a new party have emerged among three opposition parties in Japan, Jiji Press learned Sunday. The moves came in the course of talks on the possible integration of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito into the Centrist Reform Alliance. The CRA and Komeito are keen about the new opposition party option. Some senior members of the CDP and officials of a major labor union backing the party are also positive, according to sources familiar with the matter. As some CDP lawmakers are cautious, however, coordination work is expected to face difficulties even if such process fully starts. The CRA was established only in January, ahead of the Feb. 8 general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, by then Lower House members of the CDP and Komeito. All of the CRA lawmakers are members of the lower chamber. Komeito moved to the opposition side last October, when it quit as the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. All lawmakers of the CDP and Komeito are members of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet. “Integration into an existing party could be possible, and forming a new party could also be an option,” CRA leader Junya Ogawa said at a press conference Friday. “We are ready and determined to respond to an early integration,” Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida told a separate press conference the same day, adding that the CRA, the CDP and Komeito are having talks behind the scenes. In the talks, Komeito proposed providing CDP and Komeito lawmakers hoping for integration with an opportunity to express their opinions within this year, informed sources said. With the current Diet session slated to end July 17, the three parties hope to confirm such plans by mid-July, according to the sources. Talks are also being held on the possibility of Komeito supporting labor union members who would be fielded by the CDP as proportional representation candidates in the next Upper House election in 2028. A cut in the number of Komeito candidates may also be a possibility. The CRA and Komeito are increasingly positive toward integration as the leader of an influential labor union that supports the CDP told Komeito recently, “You should unite with a big idea and form a new party.” “We crossed the Rubicon,” a senior Komeito official said, referring to the launch of the CRA. “We should go as far as we can.” A CRA executive said, “If we do nothing, we cannot wipe out the image about our party’s defeat in the Feb. 8 Lower House election.” Still, the gap between the CRA-Komeito side and the CDP remains wide. The CRA and Komeito voted for a bill to create a national intelligence council, one of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s signature policies, during the current Diet session, while the CDP opposed the legislation. Local chapters of the CDP remain frustrated at the CRA and Komeito, which are tolerant of national security legislation and the restart of idled nuclear reactors. In an address Wednesday, CRA leader Ogawa said that the CDP is “reluctant” over integration. In response, Yoshitaka Saito, the CDP’s Diet affairs chief, warned Ogawa, saying that he should be careful with his words. Japan Teachers Union, which supports Saito and CDP leader Shunichi Mizuoka, is negative about the new party plan. The difficult situation will continue toward summer, a CDP executive said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]