Photo/Illutration Opposition party executives attend a symposium on May 9 sponsored by the Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitutionalism. (Mari Fujisaki)

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party have taken a step backward in their cooperative efforts for this summer’s Upper House election.

The two parties had previously united behind single candidates to improve the opposition bloc’s chances of defeating the ruling coalition’s candidate in the same constituency.

CDP Secretary-General Chinami Nishimura and Akira Koike, head of the JCP’s secretariat, on May 9 confirmed a policy of coordinating candidates in the 32 single-seat districts to be contested this summer. Districts where opposition candidates have a possibility of victory will be given priority for such cooperation.

But the CDP and JCP stopped short of having their leaders sign a policy agreement that had been the practice in recent elections, such as last autumn’s Lower House election.

After the meeting, Nishimura told reporters, “The opposition will not be able to put up a fight if the parties all push different candidates.”

Koike said his party would not back away from its policy of having opposition parties work together with citizens’ groups.

The JCP sought a signing of the policy agreement, but the CDP was more hesitant, in part because of the underwhelming results of last year’s Lower House election.

At that time, the CDP and JCP, along with the Social Democratic Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi, agreed to a policy package presented by the Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitutionalism, a citizens’ group.

The leaders of the four opposition parties signed a document calling for the realization of an administration that could implement that policy package. The parties also agreed to back the same candidate in the Lower House single-seat districts.

But the ruling coalition blasted the cooperation between the CDP and JCP, highlighting their vast differences in foreign policy and national security.

While the CDP and JCP did poorly in the 2021 Lower House election, two opposition parties that distanced themselves from that electoral cooperation—Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People—did comparatively well.

For that reason, the CDP has been more hesitant this time around to sign a policy agreement with the JCP, despite CDP officials acknowledging that opposition cooperation in selecting candidates would be needed to have any chance against the ruling coalition.

The JCP said a policy agreement was needed before any coordination on candidates could be made.

On May 9, the Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitutionalism held a symposium in Tokyo in which opposition party executives participated. The party officials accepted the policy request submitted by the citizens’ group but did not have the party leaders sign a policy agreement.

Upper House election cooperation among opposition parties began in 2016, when they backed the same candidate in all single-seat districts.

That practice was repeated in 2019, but similar cooperation appears less likely this year.

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