The Democratic Party for the People, at a meeting on Monday of its lawmakers in both chambers of the Diet, Japan's parliament, failed to reach a conclusion on its proposed merger with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

 The participants only confirmed the DPFP's intention to continue negotiations with the CDPJ on their possible integration.

The DPFP, the second-largest opposition party in Japan, will convey the results of the day's meeting to the CDPJ, the top opposition party, at a meeting of their secretaries-general on Tuesday. The CDPJ side has been suggesting terminating the merger talks.

At Monday's meeting, DPFP members in favor of the merger, including the party's deputy leader, Keisuke Tsumura, submitted a resolution calling for talks to be held early among the two parties' leaders to clinch a basic agreement on the integration.

But a proposal for the merger issue to be discussed at the Monday meeting was turned down by a vote of 28 to 19.

DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki told reporters after the meeting that he hopes to "patiently continue talks" with the CDPJ. "There is no change in our plan to stand against the administration (of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) with the aim of creating a large force," he said, while noting, "We'll now focus on Diet deliberations." The Diet was convened into a 150-day regular session on Monday.

Tsumura said he will take a stance of supporting Tamaki's positive attitude on the merger talks.

DPFP lawmakers in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, are generally cautious about the party's merger with the CDPJ, while many members in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, are seeking an early merger of the two opposition parties ahead of a Lower House election that must be held by October 2021, when the terms of office of the current Lower House members are set to end.

At their recent meeting, Tamaki and CDPJ leader Yukio Edano failed to agree on the name of the merged party and other details. Tamaki has been stressing the need for careful discussions in order to avoid a split of his party.

Edano has voiced the CDPJ's plan to end the merger talks if the DPFP fails to reach its conclusion on the merger on Monday. In such event, the CDPJ will shift its focus to seeking cooperation in the opposition camp in Diet deliberations and adjusting candidates with other opposition parties for the next Lower House election, Edano said.

JIJI Press