Tokyo, 28 June, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s ruling parties agreed Tuesday to cooperate in all constituencies except those in Tokyo for the next general election, brushing aside concerns that they may end their decades-long alliance amid increased friction over the fielding of candidates.
The decision came after weeks of wrangling between the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and its junior coalition partner Komeito over putting forward candidates in a newly established electoral district in Tokyo.
“We have confirmed that we will cooperate with each other based on the agreement,” Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi told reporters after meeting with Kishida, expressing his eagerness to avoid further feuding with the LDP.
The LDP and Komeito have faced difficulties in addressing the redrawing of the electoral map under legislation enacted late last year to narrow the vote disparity between densely and sparsely populated constituencies in the House of Representatives.
Komeito, a self-proclaimed “peace party,” became frustrated with the conservative LDP’s insistence on endorsing its candidate in the Tokyo No. 28 district, despite the junior partner’s desire to secure the parliamentary seat for itself.
In May, Komeito, supported by Soka Gakkai, Japan’s largest lay Buddhist group, conveyed to its partner a decision not to recommend LDP candidates in constituencies in Tokyo, while giving up its plan to field its own candidate in the new district in the capital.
But the two ruling parties managed to find common ground in the hope of preventing the disagreement from expanding beyond Tokyo, amid lingering speculation that Kishida will dissolve the lower house for a snap election by the end of this year.
In the final days of the ordinary parliamentary session through last Wednesday, Kishida said he will not dissolve the more powerful lower house while the Diet is sitting.
The disagreement between the LDP and Komeito over electoral cooperation is believed to be one of the major obstacles for Kishida if he seeks to call a general election, alongside revelations of government mishandlings of the My Number national identification card system.
As a result of the electoral district revision, 10 single-seat electoral constituencies will be added across five prefectures, including some in Tokyo, in the lower house, while 10 prefectures will lose one seat each.
The LDP and Komeito, which initially formed a coalition government from 1999 to 2009 and later regained power together in 2012, have joined hands on candidate selection.
The LDP has relied on votes from Soka Gakkai members. In exchange for electoral cooperation, Komeito has lobbied its partner to promote policies such as cash handouts and other social welfare-related programs.
