Yoshihiko Noda, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's new president, faces the difficult task of uniting the country's largest opposition party around policies that appeal to voters who are disgruntled with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The former prime minister has plans to steer the CDP more toward the center-right of the political spectrum. His next order of business, drawing like-minded opposition parties closer together, could prove quite challenging, given their fundamental differences on key policies and their dislike of the CDP's past efforts at working with the Japanese Communist Party to field unified candidates in district elections.
The Democratic Party for the People and Nippon Ishin no Kai have both opposed the CDP’s cooperation with the JCP in the past, due to their opposing views on constitutional reform and nuclear power, among other issues.
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