Two Japanese political parties have decided to form an alliance in the Diet, becoming the largest opposition force in both the lower and upper house, their senior officials said on Sunday.
Secretary generals of the Party of Hope and the Democratic Party, Motohisa Furukawa and Teruhiko Mashiko, said the parties are set to solidify the formal agreement on Monday.
They said the parties reached a compromise on how to deal with the contentious security legislation, over which the two parties had remained apart.
Regarding the legislation that expands the Self-Defence Forces’ role overseas, the Party of Hope was in favour of promoting it, calling the policy “realistic”, while the Democratic Party said some portions of it are unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a new party created before the lower house elections last October, will remain the largest independent opposition party in the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party is the largest opposition force in the House of Councillors.