Photo/Illutration Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi meets with Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki at the Diet building on Oct. 15. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi held back-to-back meetings on Oct. 15 with leaders of three opposition parties in a bid to secure support in the Diet vote for the next prime minister.

After Komeito’s exit from the ruling coalition left the LDP in a weakened position, Takaichi urgently sought cross-party backing to bolster her candidacy.

In the afternoon, Takaichi met separately with Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, chief of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

But while Takaichi tried to solidify her chances in the Diet, movement within the opposition has also intensified to choose a different leader.

The CDP has positioned Tamaki as a “strong candidate” for prime minister and is calling for broader opposition coordination.

Noda emphasized the urgency of the moment. “Opportunities to take power from the LDP come only once every decade or so,” he said. “This is a critical juncture.”

Takaichi’s meeting with Noda at the Diet building at 2 p.m. lasted for about 20 minutes.

“I expressed my intention to run in the upcoming prime minister nomination election and asked for his understanding,” Takaichi told reporters after the meeting.

Noda spoke separately to reporters, saying that during the conversation, he asked Takaichi, “What kind of framework will you use for the prime minister nomination? Will the LDP go it alone?”

Takaichi reportedly replied, “That hasn’t been decided yet.”

The LDP leader also apparently asked Noda about the CDP’s coordination efforts with Nippon Ishin and the DPP.

“Is it the three parties?” she asked.

Noda responded, “No, if the three parties come together, we’ll also reach out to Komeito.”

Takaichi met with Tamaki at 3 p.m., asking for his party’s cooperation in a Diet vote.

She later told reporters, “The DPP shares very similar basic policies with us.”

When asked whether she felt she had gained the DPP’s support for her candidacy, Takaichi said, “It’s hard to say.”

She added, “But I conveyed that if we want to quickly advance similar policies, I hope we can share responsibility together.”

Tamaki revealed that in December, he had urged the implementation of a three-party agreement between the LDP, Komeito and the DPP to raise the ceiling on taxable income and abolish the outdated provisional gasoline tax rate.

He said if the contents of the three-party agreement are realized, “a relationship of trust will be born, and depending on how that trust develops, the scope and depth of further cooperation from that point forward will expand.”

At 6 p.m., Takaichi met with Yoshimura.

But three opposition leaders also held an hourlong meeting at the Diet building in the afternoon.

No conclusion was reached regarding the Diet vote for prime minister, but they said they would continue discussions.

Noda repeated his goal.

“I said that if the opposition parties pool their wisdom and work together, this is a chance to bring about a change in government,” he said.

Nippon Ishin co-leader Fumitake Fujita, who attended the meeting, said the parties’ secretaries-general and Diet affairs committee chairs would continue talks on cooperation.

“At present, nothing has been decided at all,” he said. “We will try to see if we can align.”

He also said, “There are various possibilities, such as simply writing the names of Takaichi from the LDP, Noda from the CDP, Tamaki from the DPP, or even my own name.”

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