Japan’s biggest opposition party would seek to support a unified candidate with other groups in a bid to block Sanae Takaichi’s election as prime minister, media reported after the ruling coalition collapsed.
Junior partner Komeito quit its 26-year alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Friday, putting in peril Takaichi’s bid to become the country’s first female prime minister.
Conservative Takaichi was elected as LDP president a week ago, but needs the approval of parliament to secure the top job.
Photo: Reuters
“This is a once-in-a-decade chance for a change of government,” said Yoshihiko Noda, president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the business Nikkei daily reported late on Friday.
Komeito’s decision to quit the alliance that has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for 25 years plunged Japan into a new political crisis.
Speaking during the recording of a Nikkei podcast, which has yet to be released, Noda, who served as Japanese prime minister from 2011 to 2012, said he would urge the opposition to unite behind a single candidate.
He said that person could potentially be Yuichiro Tamaki, who heads the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and on Friday said he was willing to stand.
However, there are significant policy differences between the DPP and the CDP, which could reportedly scupper cooperation.
The LDP has been hemorrhaging support as backing grows for smaller parties — including the anti-immigration Sanseito — and it is in a minority in both chambers of the National Diet: the House of Representatives (lower house) and the House of Councillors (upper house), even with Komeito.
In the powerful lower house, the LDP has 196 seats, the CDP 148, the DPP 27 and Komeito 24. Takaichi needs a majority of 233 seats in her favor to be appointed by parliament, which appears difficult given the numbers.
However, experts say she could still win if opposition parties fail to agree on an alternative candidate. Komeito party leader Tetsuo Saito on Friday said his fellow members would nominate him instead of Takaichi.
Saito also said that the main reason for quitting the coalition was the LDP’s failure to tighten rules on the funding of political parties.
This follows a scandal within the LDP that emerged last year involving irregular payments of millions of US dollars related to ticket sales for fundraising events.
Takaichi caused particular consternation to Komeito by appointing Japanese lawmaker Koichi Hagiuda, who was embroiled in the scandal, to a senior party post, reports said.
“For the Komeito party, which champions public integrity, it is difficult to explain this to its supporters and those working hard on the election campaign,” said Hidehiro Yamamoto, politics and sociology professor at the University of Tsukuba.
Despite its small size, Komeito — a party supported by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai — helped the LDP in the elections. About 20 percent of LDP lawmakers are estimated to lose seats without Komeito’s help, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said.
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