Japan's CDP Concerned about Split over 3-Way Merger Plan

Tokyo, July 6 (Jiji Press)--The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, an opposition party, is increasingly concerned about the risk of a split over its potential merger with two other opposition parties--the Centrist Reform Alliance and Komeito.

The concerns come as the Komeito side, including members who are part of the CRA, calls on the CDP to approve national security laws and support the reopening of nuclear power plants before the merger.

The approval of the security laws and support for nuclear plants are key policies adopted when the CRA was formed in January by some CDP and Komeito members in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.

If the Komeito side insists on removing lawmakers who oppose the two policies from the potential merger, some CDP lawmakers may become more skeptical about forming the new structure.

A CDP chapter in Miyazaki Prefecture approved a plan to aim for the merger at an annual convention on Sunday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]