2026 POLLS: LDP to Slam Centrists in Election as Unfit to Govern

Tokyo, Jan. 23 (Jiji Press)--Shunichi Suzuki, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has said that his party will question the newly formed Centrist Reform Alliance's ability to govern during the campaign period for the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election.

In a recent interview with Jiji Press and other news outlets, the LDP executive criticized the Centrist Reform Alliance, founded by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, a former LDP ally, as a "party created for the election" for the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament.

"Considering the lead-up to the party's launch, it is undoubtedly a party created for the election," Suzuki said. "The CDP previously cooperated with the Japanese Communist Party, so it's a very left-leaning form of centrism."

"I've seen parties form and disband, but the New Frontier Party only lasted three years while the Party of Hope disappeared after one election," he said, referring to political parties formed in 1994 and 2017, respectively.

"It's highly questionable whether this new party will last," he continued. "Does a party that may not last long have the qualifications to speak about Japan's future? Can we trust the future to a party that may disappear?"

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]