CDPJ Aiming for Change of Government with Komeito Cooperation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:18 JST, January 15, 2026

Aiming for a change of government, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has reached an agreement with Komeito to advance cooperation at a “higher level” in the next House of Representatives election. The two parties are now discussing the possibility of forming a new party together and adopting a unified proportional representation list system for the election.

Under the system, multiple parties incorporate their officially endorsed candidate lists for proportional representation elections into a single list. It is believed this approach could accumulate more votes and potentially secure more seats.

Both parties aim to maximize seats through this method. In the proportional representation race of the 2024 lower house election, in which 176 seats were up for grabs, the CDPJ secured about 11.56 million votes and 44 seats, while Komeito obtained about 5.96 million votes and 20 seats. Combined, they surpassed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s 59 seats.

Komeito, in particular, places emphasis on the proportional representation system and puts top priority on the recovery of votes gained through this system. The CDPJ is considering refraining from fielding candidates in four single-seat districts where Komeito incumbents are running, hoping to win Komeito’s favor.

However, numerous challenges stand in their way. Since proportional representation winners are determined by the order on the party list, having candidates from multiple parties on the same list creates conflicting interests.

Furthermore, candidates who run in single-seat districts for either the CDPJ or Komeito cannot simultaneously run on the unified proportional representation list. Of the 148 CDPJ members elected in the 2024 House of Representatives election, 43 recovered through proportional representation. If dual candidacy is not available, many could lose their seats. Forming a new party is seen as a potential solution to this flaw, but it is no easy task to establish a new party’s presence among voters in a short election campaign.

Some Komeito members are cautious about such an idea as it intensifies their party’s confrontation with the LDP. Within the CDPJ, some suggest adding the Democratic Party for the People to the unified list, but DPFP executives are dismissive.

Prof. Toru Yoshida of Doshisha University said, “For the CDPJ, it [the system] could be a means to draw in Komeito and the DPFP, but voters would find it difficult because they wouldn’t know which party’s candidate their vote ultimately supports.”