Merger Will Restore Ruling Party’s Majority
The smallest party in Japan’s ruling coalition said it would merge with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, allowing the LDP to regain the majority it lost in a general election.
Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the New Conservative Party, said his party had accepted a proposal from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who heads the LDP, that the two parties unite.
The move will push the total number of LDP seats in the lower chamber to 244 out of 480, down from the 247 held before Sunday’s election but more than the 241 needed for a majority.
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