Photo/Illutration Yukio Edano of the CDP delivers a speech in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, on June 22. (Takahiro Okubo)

Yukio Edano, former Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan president, is seeking a return to the top post three years after resigning to take responsibility for the party's poor showing in an election. 

Edano, 60, has told people involved that he will run in the main opposition party’s presidential election in September, according to sources.

He met with Hirotaka Akamatsu, former vice speaker of the Lower House and leader of the party’s largest faction, Sanctuary, on July 9 and told him of his intention to run, sources said.

Edano will determine the time for making an official announcement.

Akamatsu has remained a highly influential CDP heavyweight even after retiring as a lawmaker.

Edano is believed to have sought the Sanctuary faction’s backing to gain the necessary support of 20 members to nominate him to run in the presidential race.

The president of the main opposition party who will be elected in September will be seen as a possible candidate to be the next prime minister in the Lower House election that will be held as early as by the end of the year.

While incumbent CDP President Kentaro Izumi is also showing a willingness to run for re-election, Edano will be a strong challenger. 

Edano has been elected 10 times as a Lower House member from the Saitama 5th District.

He was “excluded” from the Party of Hope, which was headed by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, in the Lower House election in 2017. Edano instead formed the CDP and led it to become the main opposition party.

He resigned as president to take responsibility for the CDP's poor showing in the 2021 Lower House election.

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