Apr 28 (Japan Today) - Japan's second-largest opposition Democratic Party for the People absorbed Friday a smaller opposition party in an attempt to expand its strength ahead of an upper house election this summer.
The Democratic Party for the People, a splinter of the now-defunct Democratic Party formed last May, will maintain its name and basic policies after being joined by members of the Liberal Party.
"It's the first step to creating an alternative to take over the reins of government instead of the Liberal Democratic Party (led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe)," Yuichiro Tamaki, who heads the bigger opposition party, said at a press conference. "We'll continue to call on others to join."
The Democratic Party for the People now has 40 lawmakers in the more powerful lower chamber, up from 37, and the number in the House of Councillors increased to 24 from 21, coming closer to forces of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which has 54 seats in the House of Representatives and 24 in the upper chamber.
However, discussions in the second-largest opposition party on whether to unite with the tiny party, co-headed by Ichiro Ozawa, who was once a power broker in Japanese politics, lasted about seven hours from Thursday night before reaching the conclusion.
Some lawmakers of the Democratic Party for the People were against the merger and they remain alert to the political influence of Ozawa.
