CDPJ Head Izumi Announces Reelection Bid; Keen to Explore ‘United Front’ with Fellow Opposition Parties

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:19 JST, September 6, 2024

Kenta Izumi, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, announced Friday that he will seek reelection in the upcoming leadership election.

The leadership election will be officially announced on Saturday, and voting will take place on Sept. 23. He will become the third candidate to officially announce his bid, following former party leader Yukio Edano, 60, and former Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda, 67.

Izumi, 50, at a press conference held in the party’s headquarters, said, “Our party will seek to change the government in next general election. I will lead the party toward that goal.”

Regarding a united front among opposition parties in the next House of Representatives election, he said, “I will seek a united front where I can.” However, he stressed that he would assess the situation, saying, “While fighting to win more seats than the Liberal Democratic Party, I would like to examine whether the CDPJ could come to power alone or in a coalition government.”

Although Izumi has a group within the party that forms the base of his support, he struggled to gain enough support for his candidacy, as some members of his group stood behind other candidates. This situation forced him to announce his candidacy just one day before the election will be officially announced.

Izumi has been elected eight times to the House of Representatives from Kyoto Constituency No. 3. When the Democratic Party of Japan was in power, he served as parliamentary vice-minister of the cabinet office.

He replaced Edano as head of the CDPJ in November 2021, in the wake of the party’s crushing loss in the House of Representatives election. Izumi’s party lost seats in the House of Councillors election in 2022. However, he led the party to victory in three House of Representatives by-elections this April.