OPPOSITION SEEKS ALTERNATIVE CANDIDATE
Komeito, a socially liberal party affiliated with a lay Buddhist organisation, has been in an alliance with the LDP since 1999, and is often seen as a brake on its more hawkish leanings like its step back from pacifism.
The party has criticised Takaichi’s tough language on foreigners and visits to the Yasakuni Shrine – seen by neighbours as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism. It also wants the LDP to take a tougher response to a fundraising scandal that has rocked the party.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told reporters he had raised these issues with Takaichi in talks that lasted around 90 minutes on Tuesday, but reached no conclusion.
More talks are expected over coming days, a Komeito official said.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) has called for other parties to rally behind an alternative candidate for prime minister.
If that happens, the DPP’s charismatic leader Yuichiro Tamaki would be a strong candidate, local media cited the CDP’s secretary general, Jun Azumi, as saying on Wednesday.
Opposition parties can put forward their own candidates when parliament meets to vote on the next premier.
Any candidate who secures a simple majority in the first round wins approval. If not, a run-off poll follows between the two candidates with the most votes.
However, getting agreement between a disparate band of opposition parties to challenge Takaichi remains a remote possibility, political analysts say.
Takaichi “is almost nailed on”, said Paul Nadeau, a political science associate professor at Temple University in Tokyo.
“I don’t see the opposition parties all agreeing on one single candidate.”
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