Political Maneuvering Heats Up over Next Prime Minister; Ruling, Opposition Party Leaders Hold Spate of Meetings

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, October 15, 2025

Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi met separately with each of the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and the Japan Innovation Party on Wednesday, to seek cooperation in the prime ministerial election and Diet management during the extraordinary Diet session expected to be convened next Tuesday.

The leaders of the three opposition parties also met among themselves to discuss a possible joint candidate for the election and agreed to continue discussions on the matter through their secretaries general, intensifying the maneuvering among ruling and opposition parties over the prime ministerial election. 

Takaichi met with CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda at the Diet Building for about 20 minutes on Wednesday and they confirmed that their parties will cooperate to realize such measures as abolition of the provisional gasoline tax rate.

“We have to protect the lives of the people,” Takaichi told reporters afterward, emphasizing that she will focus on measures to combat high prices. Noda said, “We shared a common view that we have to work quickly” on compiling a fiscal 2025 supplementary budget that will provide fiscal backing for such measures.

Takaichi also met with DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki to seek cooperation in the prime ministerial election and Diet management, and with JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura and co-leader Fumitake Fujita.

In her talks with the opposition leaders, Takaichi is believed to have called for cooperation on policy matters and Diet management. With Komeito leaving the coalition, securing cooperation from the JIP and DPFP has become an urgent task.

Earlier on Wednesday, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairperson Hiroshi Kajiyama and JIP counterpart Takashi Endo met with each other in Tokyo. They are believed to have exchanged opinions on potential collaboration, with the LDP hoping to stop cooperation among the three opposition parties.

Meanwhile Noda, Fujita and Tamaki also gathered for talks on Wednesday. The three parties agreed to continue discussions regarding the prime minister nomination election.

The CDPJ has shown a positive stance toward nominating the DPFP’s Tamaki as a joint candidate for the prime ministerial election. It remains to see how the talks among the three opposition parties will progress — the DPFP maintains its position that it has to have common ground with the CDPJ on key policies matters such as the Constitution, diplomacy and security issues in order to decide on a joint candidate.

So the focus of the three-party meeting was whether Noda can compromise on such issues as security-related legislation and policies on nuclear power.

“It would be difficult to reach agreements at one meeting,” CDPJ Secretary General Jun Azumi said early Wednesday. “Now is the real start of the political drama.”