Japan’s ruling coalition parties are set to issue a statement reaffirming they will cooperate in elections across most of the country, after a damaging fight in Tokyo ended their pact in the capital.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Buddhist-backed junior partner Komeito will seal the agreement Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper and other media said.
The show of unity comes as support for Kishida’s cabinet slumps in opinion polls, clouding the calculus over when he might call a general election. The fight with Komeito — an ally for more than 20 years — may have played into his decision not to hold the vote as early as July.
The two last month quarreled over rights to field candidates in new constituencies being created in Tokyo, and Komeito announced it would no longer cooperate with the LDP anywhere in the capital. Known for its ability to turn out the vote, Komeito is often said to provide up to 20,000 votes per constituency, a key margin for some candidates.
In the joint statement, the two parties will agree that the LDP would recommend Komeito candidates in all constituencies except the Tokyo 29th district, the Yomiuri said. Komeito will pledge to recommend LDP candidates everywhere except Tokyo, the paper said.
While Kishida need not hold an election until 2025, renewing his mandate ahead of a party leadership vote in September 2024 would help him secure another three-year term. The premier is battling to overcome public unease over a series of troubles in the introduction of a national ID card.
The next general election will be the first under boundary changes that have been made to reflect the continuing population drift from the LDP’s rural strongholds to urban areas.
The coalition also faces a renewed challenge from the upstart conservative Japan Innovation Party, which announced Sunday it would run rivals to Komeito candidates in six districts in the western regions of Osaka and Hyogo where it had previously avoided a direct clash.
