Leading LDP Lawmakers Propose Becoming Opposition Party; Group Suggests Remaining in Power Will Cause ‘Stagnation’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:53 JST, July 23, 2025

Five leading Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, including former Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato, have reached the conclusion that the LDP should hand over the government to the opposition parties following its disastrous defeat in the recent upper house election.

The five — also including former Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa; former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda; former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito; and former State Minister of Finance Nobuhide Minorikawa — met at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday. The agreement was revealed by attendees.

After the meeting, Sato met with LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama at the party headquarters and delivered the five men’s shared opinion to him. In light of the fact that the LDP is now a minority ruling party in both houses, they thought, “Why don’t we resolve to go back to the basics and drop down to being an opposition party?”

One of the five said, “Let the opposition parties try it once and see how hard it is to run a government.”

Another said: “All the opposition parties are saying they will not work with the Ishiba Cabinet. To avoid stagnation in the Diet, as a matter of principle, it would be better for us to descend to being an opposition party.”