TOKYO, Sept. 16 — Japan’s main opposition party, the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), officially disbanded on Wednesday, local media reported.
According to Kyodo News, the alliance’s head Junya Ogawa said the same day that 48 of its 49 House of Representatives lawmakers had quit the party. Ogawa himself also stepped down as leader.
The CRA has announced its plan to split earlier this month. Of its lower house members, 21 came from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), while 28 came from the Komeito party.
Kyodo News reported that the CRA will retain one lawmaker to wind up its affairs. The 28 former alliance lawmakers affiliated with Komeito are to return to that party while Ogawa plans to form a new party for “democratic reform,” bringing together the remaining 20 former CDPJ lawmakers, although it is uncertain whether they will join.
Ogawa will head the new party while Takeshi Shina will serve as its secretary general.
The CRA, the new party and Komeito will seek to form a new parliamentary caucus under a centrist banner in a bid to maintain their position as the largest opposition force in the lower house.
Established in January, the CRA brought together lower house lawmakers from the left-leaning CDPJ and Komeito as a counterweight to the conservative-leaning administration led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
In the subsequent lower house election in February, however, the alliance won only 49 seats, far short of expectations. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
