Overview
- Centrist lawmakers from Hokkaido, who unveiled the Hokkaido Centrist Reform Forum on Thursday in Sapporo, named Kamiya as representative and Sato as secretary-general.
- The forum is the centrist group’s first prefectural body and it plans to shift into a formal Hokkaido branch once party rules for local units are set.
- The broader three-party merger effort has stalled as the Constitutional Democratic Party grows wary, with leader Shunichi Shuioka saying on April 17 that not merging is an option and the party dropping a target date for a decision.
- Substantive gaps block a deal, including split views on security laws, whether to restart nuclear plants, the Henoko base move in Okinawa, and how to secure the imperial line.
- Election math looms large because Japan’s open-list proportional system rewards candidates who draw organized votes, which could favor Komeito’s Soka Gakkai-backed hopefuls and deter CDP cooperation.