Overview

• Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito said his party would not write Sanae Takaichi’s name in the prime‑minister ballot if coalition talks fail.
• Negotiations with the LDP face a policy gap over stricter rules on corporate and organizational donations as well as concerns about Yasukuni visits, foreigner policy, and politics-and-money issues.
• Analysts and local reporting indicate the extraordinary Diet session and the prime‑minister nomination vote could be pushed to later this month if no agreement is reached soon.
• Democratic Party for the People secretary‑general Katsuya Hariba pressed Taro Aso to carry out a prior three‑party pact on the ¥1,030,000 income threshold review and a temporary gasoline tax abolition, saying there were no coalition talks.
• Rengō re‑elected Tomoko Yoshino as chair and she reiterated that including the Democratic Party for the People in a governing coalition is unacceptable.