Upper House Election: CDPJ Seeks to Convince Opposition to Take Power, but Other Parties Look Unwilling to Team Up

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:39 JST, July 21, 2025

With the ruling bloc now deprived of a majority in the House of Councillors, Japan’s largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is looking to bring about a change in government by unifying the opposition.

However, the CDPJ failed to win more than its 22 seats that were contested in the election, making it unclear whether the party will be able to seize the initiative in forming a united front against the government.

Regarding cooperation with other opposition parties, Hiroshi Ogushi, deputy head of the CDPJ, told reporters at party headquarters on Monday morning, “We will try to find as much common ground as possible and press the coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito in a way that allows [the opposition] to work together.”

Meanwhile, CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda said at a press conference early on Monday morning, “We are eager to talk openly with other opposition parties about what we can agree on.”

Noda hopes to use a bill to end the provisional tax on gas, which was jointly submitted by the CDPJ and six other opposition parties, and the pledges made by parties during the election to cut or scrap the consumption tax as stepping stones to forming a united front against the government.

However, the CDPJ lost its seat in a constituency in Fukushima Prefecture, where it had teamed up with the Japanese Communist Party to back a single candidate. The CDPJ also failed to gain seats in the proportional representation race.

Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, dismissed the idea of a government led by opposition parties. “It’s not realistic,” he said at a press conference on Sunday night.

A senior member of the Democratic Party for the People also responded coolly to the idea, saying, “We can’t cooperate with the CDPJ as the party has failed to present a plan on how to govern.”