Photo/Illutration Seiji Maehara, acting leader of the Democratic Party for the People (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The acting leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, who has been at odds with the party leader over policy issues, announced on Nov. 30 that he will leave the DPP and start his own party.

Seiji Maehara, 61, a veteran lawmaker who served as head of the defunct Democratic Party of Japan, told a news conference that he will form a new political party for realizing a free education with four other lawmakers.

Maehara criticized the DPP under party leader Yuichiro Tamaki for focusing almost exclusively on invoking a “trigger” clause to temporarily lower the gasoline tax and exploring cooperation with the Kishida administration.

“Our responsibility is to create an option for a change of government through an alliance of opposition parties based on policy issues, not a party that will cooperate with the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito on a single issue,” Maehara said.

Three lawmakers will join the new party from the DPP: Lower House member Alex Saito, Upper House member Yukiko Kada and Lower House member Atsushi Suzuki.

The fourth will be Hisashi Tokunaga, an unaffiliated Lower House member.

The four lawmakers attended the news conference with Maehara.

Maehara has been calling for a regime change by rallying opposition parties, while Tamaki is willing to cooperate with the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition to realize priority policies.

Maehara, a Lower House member in his 10th term and a former foreign minister, challenged Tamaki in the party leadership election in September.

Tamaki won re-election and Maehara continued to serve as the party’s acting chief.

At the news conference, Maehara said the DPP refused to accept the resignation notices that he and the three other party lawmakers submitted on Nov. 30. He said the notices were sent later to the party through certified mail.

During the ordinary Diet session last year, Maehara objected to the DPP’s policy of supporting the government’s initial budget proposal for fiscal 2022.

He was absent from the Lower House plenary session where the draft budget was put to a vote, citing “poor health.”

However, Maehara followed the party line and voted for the draft supplementary budget for fiscal 2023 during a Lower House plenary session on Nov. 24.

The supplementary budget passed the Diet on Nov. 29 with the backing of two opposition parties, the DPP and Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

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