Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Agrees with Komeito, Also an Opposition Party, on ‘Higher-Level’ Cooperation in Anticipated General Election

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:57 JST, January 13, 2026

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito agreed on Monday on “higher-level” election cooperation in the next general election amid reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has begun considering dissolution of the House of Representatives.

Takaichi is considering dissolving the lower house at the beginning of an upcoming ordinary Diet session scheduled to convene on Jan. 23.

Komeito was to hold an urgent meeting of its executive board on Tuesday to discuss practical measures for election cooperation.

On Monday, CDPJ President Yoshihiko Noda and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito held talks for about 30 minutes in Tokyo and agreed to search for a method of “higher-level” election cooperation.

Noda, who proposed the meeting, asked for cooperation saying, “Our basic centrist policy stances match.” Saito replied, “I shall consider it in a forward-looking manner.”

The CDPJ and Komeito aim for a political middle ground, and both of the opposition parties plan to work together with other centrist parties.

Initially, Komeito members were cautious about strengthening ties with the CDPJ, saying that doing so would show a too strong stance of criticizing the administration.

But they turned to a stance of cooperating with the CDPJ because the voting date of the next general election is predicted to be in mid-February and thus the election campaign, if realized, will be a short-period battle.

After the meeting with Saito, Noda told reporters, “I want to create a political force that can compete closely with the LDP.”

Noda indicated a stance of trying to collaborate with other opposition parties in addition to Komeito.