Speculation of further realignment in the opposition camp is simmering in the wake of the ruling coalition's sweeping victory in last Sunday's Lower House election. Chaos reigns in the upstart Kibo no To (Party of Hope), launched by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike just ahead of the campaign, following its disappointing result at the polls. Candidates who joined the party to jump on the popular governor's bandwagon now blame Koike for their losses.
Koike has apologized for Kibo no To's poor performance but will remain the party's leader. However, she also says she will now leave national politics to the party's Diet members and devote herself to her duties as Tokyo governor, raising the prospect that the party could effectively drift aimlessly without a substantial leader at the helm.
Shinzo Abe is set to be re-elected prime minister in a special Diet session convening next week, with his Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito alliance — and its two-thirds majority grip of the Lower House — solidly behind him. In contrast, the opposition parties remain as fragmented as, or perhaps even more so than, when they entered the campaign. Members of the opposition camp need to realize it's their duty to present voters with an alternative choice to the governing parties, and do what they need to do to rebuild their camp — whether or not that requires more regrouping of their forces.