Japan DPFP Tamaki, Hashimoto Attend Debate in Leader Race

Tokyo, Aug. 22 (Jiji Press)--Democratic Party for the People lawmakers Yuichiro Tamaki and Mikihiko Hashimoto attended a debate session in Tokyo ahead of the opposition party's Sept. 6 leadership election, whose campaign period started on Saturday.

The current DPFP leader, Tamaki, 57, a member of the House of Representatives, pledged to expand the party, calling the next three years a preparation period to take power.

Meanwhile, Hashimoto, 30, also a Lower House member, proposed scrapping the party's policy of deciding whether to cooperate with the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling camp case by case.

"The DPFP must evolve into a party that can lead the realization of policies," Tamaki said in the debate.

To that end, the DPFP aims to become the largest opposition party in the 2028 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, to gain momentum toward the next Lower House election.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]