Japan Opposition Alliance Agrees To Split After Merger Talks Collapse

According to Nikkei Asia, lawmakers in Japan's main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance agreed Wednesday to split after three-way talks on a fuller merger collapsed last week. Most members are expected to leave along their former party lines, while departing former Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito lawmakers are expected to form a House of Representatives caucus to try to keep the bloc's status as the largest opposition group in the lower chamber. The alliance's executives are expected to finalize the breakup plan later in the day. The around seven-month-old alliance was formed by lower house lawmakers from Komeito and the left-leaning CDPJ to present a united opposition to the conservative ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. It later suffered a heavy defeat in the snap February lower house election, falling from 167 seats to 49 in the 465-seat chamber. Under the planned arrangement, the alliance is expected to remain in existence with at least one lawmaker, likely from the CDPJ side, while former Komeito lawmakers are expected to return to their old party and the CDPJ side is considering forming a new party. The CDPJ said on Aug. 28 that it could not proceed with the merger because of pushback from lawmakers and local organizations, and the three sides said on Aug. 31 that they would abandon the plan.