Japanese opposition unites under Centrist Reform Alliance ahead of expected snap vote

ISTANBUL

Japan’s largest opposition party and a former coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have united under a new political grouping called the Centrist Reform Alliance, party leaders said Friday, ahead of an expected snap election.

The new alliance brings together lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and Komeito, which ended its 26-year alliance with the LDP in October, Kyodo News reported.

The Centrist Reform Alliance aims to campaign as a centrist bloc opposing the ruling conservative coalition in a snap election expected to be announced next week by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. If called, the vote could be held as early as Feb. 8.

CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda, a former prime minister, and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito agreed on Thursday to establish the new party, pledging to pursue a centrist realignment in response to what they described as a rightward shift under Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Noda and Saito are expected to serve as co-leaders of the new bloc.

Under the agreement, Komeito lawmakers who had planned to run in single-seat lower house constituencies are expected to step aside, with party candidates instead placed higher on proportional representation lists, Kyodo reported.

The CDPJ currently holds 148 seats in the lower house, while Komeito has 24, giving the two parties a combined total of 172 seats. The LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, hold 233 seats in the 465-member chamber.

A party or coalition needs at least 233 seats in the 465-member lower house of Japan’s bicameral parliament to elect a prime minister.