2026 POLLS: DPFP Chief Tamaki to Assess New Centrist Party

Tokyo, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, has indicated that he will carefully assess developments surrounding a new party formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, also opposition parties, before deciding whether to cooperate with it after the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election.

Asked about the possibility of forming a coalition government with the new party--the Centrist Reform Alliance--after the election for the all-important lower chamber of Japan's parliament, Tamaki said in an interview on Wednesday, "It's a good thing for Japanese politics as a whole that (the CDP) has aligned itself closer to Komeito in terms of security and energy policies."

At the same time, Tamaki said that some within the new party have already said that they will uphold a goal to aim for a country without nuclear power plants, despite the new party adopting a softer energy policy stance of aiming for a society that does not rely on nuclear power in the future.

"We plan to carefully assess (the new party) as a whole, including on what it'll do about the House of Councillors," the upper chamber, Tamaki added. The Centrist Reform Alliance was formed only with Lower House lawmakers from the CDP, the largest opposition party, and Komeito, former coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

For the upcoming Lower House election, Tamaki said that the DPFP will aim to secure 51 seats and nine million proportional representation votes. The party currently holds 26 Lower House seats.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]