Hosono to join LDP faction led by heavyweight Nikai

January 29, 2019

Tokyo--Independent House of Representatives lawmaker Goshi Hosono will join a Liberal Democratic Party faction led by Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai as a special member, a senior faction official said Tuesday.

The planned move is expected to be approved at a faction meeting Thursday. Hosono, former environment minister, aims to join the ruling party eventually, informed sources said.

Hosono represents the No. 5 single-seat constituency in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, where Takeru Yoshikawa, an LDP member who belongs to a faction led by party policy affairs chief Fumio Kishida, once had a Lower House seat.

Against this background, Hosono's plan to join the LDP may draw opposition from the LDP Shizuoka prefectural chapter and the Kishida faction, the sources said.

Hosono was first elected to the Lower House in 2000 on a ticket of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan. He is in his seventh term.

He served as DPJ secretary-general and policy affairs chief. After the DPJ was remade into the Democratic Party, he became the DP's acting leader.

In 2017, Hosono left the DP and launched the Party of Hope with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. Hosono did not join the Democratic Party for the People, which was created in 2018 by lawmakers from the DP and the Party of Hope. Jiji Press