CDP, Komeito Leaders Agree to Cooperate for Lower House Election

Tokyo, Jan. 13 (Jiji Press)–The leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito have agreed to team up toward the next House of Representatives election, which may be in the offing. Meeting at a hotel in Tokyo on Monday, Yoshihiko Noda, who heads the CDP, Japan’s leading opposition party, and Tetsuo Saito, chief of Komeito, the former coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and now in the opposition bloc, confirmed that their parties will cooperate “on a higher level” toward the next election for the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, the nation’s parliament. Details of the envisaged cooperation will be discussed by senior officials of the two parties. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also LDP president, is reportedly considering dissolving the 465-seat Lower House at the start of this year’s ordinary Diet session, set to be convened Jan. 23, for a snap general election. At the meeting, held at the request of the CDP, Noda sought to cooperate with Komeito in the next general election. Saito replied that his party will consider the matter on a positive note. Noda and Saito also shared the view that a Lower House dissolution should not lead to a political vacuum. “We agreed to expand centrist reforms,” Noda told reporters after the meeting. He added, “We hope to make coordination also with other opposition parties as much as possible so that we can fight better with the LDP (in the next Lower House election).” Saito told reporters, “Specifics (about cooperation with the CDP) will be discussed later.” Still, some Komeito members are negative about election cooperation with the CDP. A senior Komeito lawmaker has said, “Can our party stand to gain anything (from cooperation with the CDP)?” Meanwhile, Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki on Monday suggested that he will put priority on selecting the party’s own candidates over pursuing cooperation among opposition parties. “We will accelerate our work” to achieve the opposition party’s goal of winning 51 or more seats in the next Lower House election, Tamaki told reporters in Takamatsu, the capital of the western Japan prefecture of Kagawa, on Monday. The Japanese Communist Party is frustrated that the CDP, which has partnered with the JCP in past national elections, is now seeking cooperation with Komeito. “It will become difficult to cooperate with the CDP,” a senior JCP official said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]