Komeito Goes Its Own Way

One of the opposition parties in the Diet, Komeito, decided to cancel cooperation with Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in coming unified local elections scheduled in April 2027. After dissolution of Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) in September, Komeito has been taking distance from the CDPJ. Japan Communist Party (JCP) decided not to join the cooperative framework of opposition parties anymore. Opposition powers are further fragmented. 

The Lower House lawmakers of Komeito and CDPJ established the CRA in January to counter the leading coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP), in the snap election in February called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. However, the CRA had a serious defeat as voters found the merge to be an evil maneuver without agreement in some fundamental policies.

 

Having unable to hold a unified policy, the CRA decided to separate between former Komeito and the CDPJ in September. Former Komeito lawmakers joined Komeito which remained in the Upper House. The ones from CDPJ established Democratic Reform Association, now discussing a return to CDPJ. Local members of Komeito and CDPJ have been reluctant to have an integrated election campaign from the beginning of CRA.

 

Komeito’s cancel of electoral cooperation with CDPJ is the first step to walking alone. The CRA in the Lower House, Komeito, and CDPJ in the Upper House agreed on April that they would cooperate each other in the unified local election in April 2027. That was a strategy of summarize votes of supporters for those parties. However, local branches of them had been competing each other for decades. They have been frustrated with difference over policies on constitutional amendment, nuclear power generation or building new military base in Okinawa.

 

Komeito also goes its own way in economic policy. The party made its own proposal to introduce subsidy of distributing 80 thousand yen to each citizen, instead of consumption tax cut. Takaichi government is considering to reduce consumption tax for foods from 8 percent to 1, but the leading coalition does not have a majority in the Upper House. It is possible for Takaichi government to reach Komeito to have a deal, based on Komeito’s new proposal to secure a majority.

 

Another good news for the leading coalition was leave of JCP from opposition cooperative framework. The chairwoman of JCP, Tomoko Tamura, announced her party’s policy to cancel cooperation with other opposition parties in future elections. JCP has been accusing CRA’s shift to conservative stance on approving security legislation that enabled exercise of collective self-defense right.

 

Although the LDP occupies large part of single-seat districts in Lower House election, some LDP candidates lost to opposition contenders with integrated electoral cooperation. Komeito, CDPJ and JCP will field their own candidates in each single-seat district in next election. That significantly weakens opposition parties’ power to counter the leading coalition.

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