The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) heads into the upcoming Upper House election, expected in late July, with hopes of building on its success in October’s Lower House race, where it quadrupled its seats from seven to 28.

As winning individual district seats could prove difficult, DPP head Yuichiro Tamaki is hoping to pick up a large number of proportional representation seats, for which ballots are cast for political parties who then decide who fills the seats that are won.

“The goal is to win 21 seats, which would allow the DPP to independently submit budget bills in the chamber,” Tamaki said during a March 4 news conference.