Japanese centrist opposition parties postpone merger — The Japan Times
Japan’s Constitutional Democratic Party will not proceed with a planned merger with the Centrist Reform Alliance and the Komeito party. Constitutional Democratic Party leader Shunichi Mizuoka announced this at a meeting of the leaders of the three political forces on Friday, The Japan Times reports.
Mizuoka had previously said that he did not intend to speed up the process. Last week, he also suggested creating a joint parliamentary group instead of a full merger of the parties.
Differences between the parties
The main supporter of the merger was Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa. Before the meeting, he said that he would continue to seek unification, which, in his view, could become another major political force in the country.
Supporters of the unification hoped to create an alternative for voters to conservative-leaning parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, and Sanseito. At the same time, the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito have political and organizational differences, primarily on national security issues.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Before the alliance was announced, these parties had been on opposite sides of the political confrontation. Komeito had been the junior partner of the Liberal Democratic Party in the governing coalition for nearly three decades, while the Constitutional Democratic Party had opposed a number of its legislative positions for years.
Local elections
The formation of the Centrist Reform Alliance was accelerated by the snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier this year. At that time, only lower house lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito joined the alliance, while the final merger was planned for later.
The sides considered two options: dissolving the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito and merging them into the alliance, or individual members leaving these parties and joining the Centrist Reform Alliance. However, the Constitutional Democratic Party leadership indicated that both options were difficult because of objections from local party members.
The process is also complicated by nationwide local elections scheduled for April next year. The parties would have to coordinate competing candidates at the prefectural and municipal levels or allow candidates to compete against one another, risking a split in the vote. The Constitutional Democratic Party has 123,000 registered members and about 1,000 local elected officials, while Komeito has nearly 450,000 members and 3,000 local elected officials.
