Tamaki wins third term as head of Japan opposition DPP

Democratic Party for the People (DPP) leader Yuichiro Tamaki won a third term in the Japanese opposition party’s leadership election Sunday.

In the election, held at an extraordinary party convention in Tokyo, Tamaki, 57, defeated his sole opponent, Mikihiko Hashimoto, 30, a member of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

The DPP incumbent won 127 of the 159 points, far more than 32 points gained by Hashimoto.

Tamaki said he aims to boost the presence of the DPP, regarding his new term, which runs until the end of September 2029, as a “period for making preparations to seize power.”

At a news conference after the election, Tamaki said, “We hope to raise the number of our parliamentary seats and run the government in a way that allows us to lead the realization of policies.”

Over a plan by the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to cut consumption tax for food, Tamaki said, “We plan to point out problems with the plan and present a counterproposal.”

As for the 2028 election for the Senate, the upper Diet chamber, Tamaki said that the DPP aims to increase its seats in the chamber, formerly called the House of Councillors, to 40 or more including those not to be contested in the poll, in a bid to become the largest opposition party in the chamber.

He said he will keep DPP Secretary-General Kazuya Shinba in the post.