TOKYO - Japan's largest opposition party in the powerful House of Representatives will likely split just seven months after its formation, following the collapse of talks on a full merger, its leader all but confirmed Monday.
Established in the run-up to the February general election, the Centrist Reform Alliance brought together lower house lawmakers from the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party, which was the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's coalition partner for 26 years.
While the three sides had aimed to decide on a full merger also involving the two parties' upper house lawmakers by the end of August, CRA leader Junya Ogawa said at a meeting of the parties' leaders in parliament that he hopes to find "a new framework" to allow members to "restart" efforts to achieve a change of government.
Ogawa said the party will "present a concrete framework in the near future," adding that it needs time to resolve details and practical matters. He added that he has called for the CRA and Komeito to seek to form a parliamentary group, and to maintain existing cooperation among the three parties.
Talks on incorporating upper house lawmakers from the two parties into the CRA effectively collapsed Friday amid CDPJ resistance to the move, ending discussions on a full merger aimed at countering the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Komeito head Toshiko Takeya told reporters after Monday's meeting her party was "extremely disappointed" by the CDPJ's decision.
She added that Komeito had decided not to pursue its own merger in the upper house as it could give the Centrist Reform Alliance "a stronger Komeito character" that could "run counter to the goal of making the centrist bloc larger" by discouraging candidates formerly affiliated with the CDPJ from participating.
A departure of all 28 former Komeito members from the alliance would leave it with 21 seats, making it the third-largest opposition party in the lower house. The former Komeito lawmakers' group would tie with the Democratic Party for the People for the position of largest opposition force in the chamber, with 28 seats each.
The alliance won just 49 seats in the lower house election, down from 167 before the vote. Takaichi's LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, won a landslide and now control over two-thirds of the 465-seat chamber.
The loss also stalled plans to unify Komeito and the CDPJ further, with the two parties continuing to exist separately in the upper house, where the ruling coalition does not hold a majority.
The focus will now shift to the opposition parties' future cooperation ahead of next year's unified local elections, with political analysts saying the fragmentation of the opposition camp will benefit the ruling parties.
After months of talks, CDPJ leader Shunichi Mizuoka said in a meeting with his counterparts from the alliance and Komeito on Friday that his party would not join the party.
His call to explore new forms of cooperation, such as forming a joint caucus in the upper house, was rejected by a senior Komeito executive.
Political analysts say the Centrist Reform Alliance's failure to gain support was due in part to the haste with which it was established and policy differences on national security and nuclear power. The alliance's policies were more closely aligned with Komeito's and at odds with long-held CDPJ principles.
Opinion polls suggest the merger did not enjoy broad support. A Kyodo News survey in August showed that 51.0 percent of respondents thought the CDPJ and Komeito sides should return to their original parties, with just 19.0 percent saying a full merger should be completed.
