Your Party emerged from Sunday's Upper House election with a presence in the chamber it never had and as a force to bargain with.
Your Party leader Yoshimi Watanabe said that although his group, which won at least nine seats in the poll, has no plans to join the Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling coalition, it may cooperate in certain areas, particularly civil service reform, but will oppose a sales tax hike. The DPJ bloc lost its Upper House majority Sunday.
"The DPJ suddenly began mentioning the consumption tax hike (before the poll), and the Liberal Democratic Party originally said that as well," Watanabe said on TV. "Your Party proposed to become the third choice, which I think many people welcomed."