Nippon Ishin, DPFP at Odds amid LDP Strategy

Jiji Press

16:44 JST, February 24, 2025

Tokyo, Feb. 24 (Jiji Press)—Executives of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People are engaged in a war of words over revisions to the government’s fiscal 2025 budget bill, ahead of this summer’s House of Councillors election.

The two opposition parties are negotiating separately with the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition to realize their respective signature policies, as the LDP seeks to secure their support to pass the budget bill.

In the negotiations, the LDP’s “divide-and-conquer” strategy appears to be paying off.

“You should not blame another party when your negotiations do not go as you expect,” Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin and governor of Osaka Prefecture, told reporters on Thursday, expressing his displeasure with recent remarks by DPFP Secretary-General Kazuya Shinba.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Shinba claimed that Nippon Ishin was obstructing the DPFP’s negotiations with the ruling coalition, which have stalled over the DPFP’s proposals to raise the minimum taxable income and cut the gasoline tax, while Nippon Ishin and the ruling bloc have made progress in their negotiations, including on Nippon Ishin’s call for free high school education.

Shinba’s criticism of Nippon Ishin is also seen as a reflection of distrust of Nippon Ishin’s co-leader Seiji Maehara, who took his current position in December after leaving the DPFP in 2023.

“Mr. Maehara left the DPFP while arguing that (DPFP) leader Yuichiro Tamaki and I were close to the LDP, so I believe he would not be easily seduced by the LDP,” Shinba warned.

Nippon Ishin and the DPFP compete for the conservative position in the opposition camp. The two parties’ strategies also overlap in that they are trying to implement their policies under the current minority government, which cannot pass a budget bill or other legislation without support from opposition lawmakers.

Shinba corrected his position at a press conference on Friday, saying: “It is not Nippon Ishin’s fault that (the DPFP’s talks with the ruling bloc) have been so difficult. The LDP is responsible.”

Meanwhile, Nippon Ishin has been able to reach a broad agreement with the ruling coalition. “We are not paying attention (to the DPFP),” a senior Nippon Ishin official said in a relaxed tone.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has warned that a widening split in the opposition camp would benefit the LDP in the ongoing Diet session and the upcoming Upper House election.

“I understand their impatience, but if the opposition parties criticize each other, they could be exploited by the LDP’s divide-and-conquer strategy,” Noda said, calling for restraint from Nippon Ishin and the DPFP.