TOKYO, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese Democratic Party for the People and the smaller Liberal Party merged on Friday to form an opposition party with more clout ahead of the upper house election this summer.
The decision came after intensive talks held between the Democratic Party For the People, Japan's second-largest opposition party, and the Liberal Party. It was decided that the major party will retain its name as well as its fundamental policies, with members of the smaller Liberal Party joining.
Leader of the Democratic Party For the People, Yuichiro Tamaki, told a press conference Friday that the parties' merging was aimed at mounting more challenge against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"It's the first step to creating an alternative to take over the reins of government instead of the Liberal Democratic Party. We'll continue to call on others to join," Tamaki said.
While a number of lawmakers were keen for the merger to go ahead, some have said that the timing may be premature, and if more time was given the new party would have been able to garner more members, observers said.
The Democratic Party for the People now has 40 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, an increase of three members, while in the upper house, the party has also added another three members to take the total up to 24.
Those questioning the merger also said they were wary of political kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, who co-chairs the Liberal Party.
Ozawa said Friday that he hoped Yukio Edano, head of the main Constitutional Democratic Party, will rally all the opposition parties to unite ahead of the upper house election.
