703 People Preparing to Run in Japan’s Lower House Election

Tokyo, Jan. 10 (Jiji Press)–A total of 703 people are currently preparing to run in the next election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, a Jiji Press survey showed Saturday. Each party will rush to field more candidates in response to a view that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may dissolve the all-important lower chamber at the beginning of the ordinary Diet session to be convened on Jan. 23. The Lower House has 465 seats in total, of which 289 are allocated to single-seat constituencies and 176 are assigned under the proportional representation system. As of Saturday, 658 people were planning to run in single-seat constituencies and 45 were preparing to seek seats under the proportional representation system. Lower House members will reach the midpoint of their four-year terms in October this year. The LDP is planning to field a total of 269 candidates. It has not selected its candidates for 31 single-seat constituencies, including those that had been ceded to Komeito, which ended its coalition partnership with the LDP last year. The LDP plans to proceed with candidate selection while closely monitoring Komeito’s moves. The Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai), which became the LDP’s new coalition partner in October last year, is preparing to field 77 candidates in single-seat constituencies, including 64 constituencies that will be contested with LDP candidates. The ruling parties are expected to see their candidates compete with those who will run in the election on tickets of the Democratic Party for the People. The LDP wants the DPFP to join the ruling coalition. A total of 172 people are planning to run in the election as candidates of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The CDP aims to increase its candidates to some 200 to oust the LDP as the largest party in the Lowe House. The DPFP is planning to field 41 candidates, including one under the proportional representation system. The CDP and the DPFP are expected to compete at least in five constituencies. The DPFP has set a target of winning 51 seats, planning to field more candidates. A total of 29 candidates are expected to run on Komeito’s tickets. Reiwa Shinsengumi is planning to field nine candidates and the Japanese Communist Party is expected to have 15 candidates. Conservative party Sanseito, which sharply increased its presence in the House of Councillors in last year’s election for the upper Diet chamber, is planning to have 64 candidates, aiming to field more than 100 candidates in a bid to win 35 to 40 seats. The Conservative Party of Japan has five candidates, and the Social Democratic Party has one candidate. Team Mirai, which met the requirements for a political party in last year’s Upper House election, is also preparing to field candidates. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]