Overview
- CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda, DPP chief Yuichiro Tamaki and JIP co-leader Fumitake Fujita met to explore a single nominee and pressed for alignment on security policy, constitutional revision and nuclear energy.
- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi informed parliament that the extraordinary session will start Tuesday, Oct. 21, and parties are still negotiating the voting timetable after the opposition rejected the LDP's push for a first-day ballot.
- Tamaki has emerged as a leading option for a joint challenge, with Noda floating his name and the DPP saying it will not form a new coalition with the LDP.
- The LDP holds 196 lower-house seats versus 210 combined for the CDP, DPP and JIP, and Komeito has signaled it could back a unified opposition candidate in a runoff.
- Sanae Takaichi is working to consolidate support inside the LDP, with party sources saying she is considering appointing Shinjiro Koizumi as defense minister and placing other recent leadership rivals in key posts.