Japan’s Ruling, Opposition Party Execs Make Final Push to Secure Votes Ahead of Sunday’s Election

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:03 JST, February 6, 2026

Senior officials of the ruling and opposition parties scrambled across the country on Friday, seeking to expand support ahead of Sunday’s House of Representatives election.

The Liberal Democratic Party campaigned primarily in electoral districts where close races are expected, dispatching its executives to back LDP candidates there, while the Centrist Reform Alliance, which is trailing according to surveys by news organizations, strove to turn the tide.

At a rally in Wakayama on Friday morning, LDP Policy Research Council Chairperson Takayuki Kobayashi said: “Which party can chart a concrete course for Japan’s economic future and deliver on it? We ask you to judge that.”

The LDP has gained an advantage in the election campaign, buoyed by high approval ratings for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also LDP president. In the final stage of the campaign, the ruling party has sent its executives to battleground districts to secure more votes. During a street speech in Tokyo, where many voters do not have party affiliations, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said, “Please give the Takaichi Cabinet the strength to maintain its momentum and push forward necessary policy measures.”

Takaichi was to campaign in Tochigi, Iwate and Miyazaki prefectures on Friday.

During the campaign, the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s ruling coalition partner, has vowed to serve as an “accelerator” for the Takaichi administration. JIP coleader Fumitake Fujita addressed crowds in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, on Friday morning, saying, “The JIP will revitalize Japan by moving and persuading the LDP.”

JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura campaigned in Osaka Prefecture in a campaign car, asking for support.

According to a survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun to gauge voters’ sentiment in the final stage of the campaign, the CRA, a new party formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, is likely to fall significantly short of the number of seats held by the CDPJ and Komeito before the lower house was dissolved.

“This is the critical moment,” CRA coleader Yoshihiko Noda said in a street speech in Saitama. “Let’s create a movement of reform by centrist forces!”

Noda was to campaign in Tokyo later the same day in an attempt to attract voters critical of the government.

The Democratic Party for the People has also continued to struggle with its candidates trailing in single-seat constituencies. DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki vowed a final push, saying in a street speech in Fukuoka, “This is a very tough election, but the DPFP always rises from here.” He was set to speak in Osaka Prefecture and Tokyo on Friday afternoon.