Former CDP members of Centrist Reform Alliance finalize plans to form new party

Lawmakers with roots in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) finalized plans Wednesday to leave the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) and form a new party, completing the breakup of Japan’s largest opposition force just eight months after its creation.

Twenty formerly CDP-affiliated Lower House members are expected to form Minshu Kaikaku no Kai, which roughly translates as Democratic Reform Group. Its official English name has yet to be determined.

The CRA’s 28 Komeito-affiliated lawmakers in the same chamber will likely return to Komeito before the next parliamentary session, further fragmenting Japan’s opposition bloc as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party maintains dominance in the Lower House.

Outgoing CRA leader Junya Ogawa and Secretary-General Takeshi Shina are set to serve in the equivalent positions in the new party.

“Today marks the opening of the second act — the second chapter — of what I would call the centrist project,” Ogawa told a meeting of CRA lawmakers Wednesday.

“The centrist reform agenda is necessary, and securing public understanding and support for it will contribute to peace and stability in society,” he said, adding that members should not waver from that conviction.

The new party platform will largely carry over the CRA’s centrist policies while reviving concepts associated with the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, including terms like “democratic centrism.” The party could be established as early as Thursday.

Despite the formal split, the two camps still plan to maintain parliamentary cooperation. Ogawa said last week that they would form a unified Lower House caucus ahead of the next parliamentary session and continue coordinating on policies and elections.

The CRA will remain temporarily in existence to settle outstanding expenses and other administrative matters, with lawmaker So Watanabe appointed to oversee the process before eventually joining the new party.

That rather unusual arrangement has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks as the CRA is due to receive approximately ¥1.17 billion in additional state subsidies from October. It represents an undistributed portion of the money allocated to the party for this year.

Ogawa said Wednesday that the successor party would not receive any of that money, arguing that the CRA needed the remaining funds to cover expenses from February’s Lower House election and other outstanding financial obligations.