4. The CDP in 2024: The Legacy of the Electoral Coalition with the JCP

The 2024 general election was held under similar circumstances to the 2009 general election, in which the former Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party at the time, defeated the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In the 2009 general election, the DPJ won a landslide victory primarily because the public had become distrustful of the LDP. For the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the 2024 election was a potential step toward a change in government, like that in 2009, by gaining voters critical of the LDP. Although the CDP increased seats from before the announcement of the election, the CDP could not achieve a change of government and missed the opportunity to be the ruling party. In the three-year period from the 2021 and 2024 general elections, the CDP sought an electoral coalition among opposition parties (Yatō-Kyōtō). However, an electoral coalition with the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) was controversial. While the unification of candidates and the JCP’s community-based electoral base was attractive for the CDP, the CDP attempted to avoid a leftist image to appeal to voters. This chapter examines the party management of the CDP for approximately three years, from the last general election in 2021 to the 2024 general election, especially from the perspective of its electoral coalition with the JCP. It then analyzes the CDP’s candidate nominations, election strategies, and election results in the 2024 general election.