Japan opposition seeks end to ruling bloc control in next Diet race

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan’s opposition party leaders agreed Thursday they will strip the ruling bloc of their majority control of the powerful lower house as the country gears up for an election in late October, but found no consensus on whether to unify their candidates.

Yoshihiko Noda, head of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, discussed with fellow leaders the possibility of supporting unified candidates to defeat ruling party rivals suspected of involvement in a recent political funds scandal, with the strategy aimed at avoiding a split vote.

The Oct. 27 general election will be the first since Shigeru Ishiba became prime minister on Tuesday following his narrow victory in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential race.

He plans to dissolve the 465-member House of Representatives next week, which is currently controlled by his party and its coalition partner, the Komeito party.

In their meeting Thursday, Noda and Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the smaller Democratic Party for the People, agreed to work toward ending the ruling coalition’s control of the powerful chamber.

Under Noda, who briefly served as Japan’s prime minister when the predecessor of the CDPJ was in power, the opposition party is now seeking to bring about another change of government.

“I want the opposition parties to join forces to block suspicious LDP candidates from winning,” Noda told Japan Innovation Party leader Nobuyuki Baba during their meeting.

Noda and his counterparts did not reach a specific agreement.

Unifying candidates within the opposition bloc could reduce the likelihood of splitting the vote, but their current disarray would likely benefit the ruling parties, as it has in recent elections.

The CDPJ’s candidates would overlap with those of the smaller Japan Innovation Party and Japanese Communist Party in around 100 single-seat districts nationwide.

The opposition parties are critical of Ishiba for abruptly announcing his intention to call an election before he was formally confirmed as prime minister, despite their calls for enough time to question him on the LDP’s slush funds scandal and his policy stance.