CRA beaten but vows to stay true to chosen path

February 9 , 2026

CRA Co-Presidents Yoshihiko Noda and Tetsuo Saito watched the elections results in Tokyo on Feb. 8CRA Co-Presidents Yoshihiko Noda and Tetsuo Saito watched the elections results in Tokyo on Feb. 8

On February 8, the House of Representatives elections was held that pitted the ruling coalition comprised on the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party against the political opposition led by the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), which came about through the merger between Komeito and the Constitutional Democratic Party. In a landslide victory, the coalition parties secured a supermajority, with the LDP winning 316 seats and its junior partner winning 36, for a total of 352 seats. The CRA won 49 seats, losing some two-thirds of the combined strength of the two merged parties before the elections.

In a public TV broadcaster NHK interview that evening, CRA Co-President Yoshihiko Noda said he would accept the disappointing outcome with humility and reiterated his party’s commitment to the path of political centrism and pacificism. Co-President Tetsuo Saito, former head of Komeito, agreed with his counterpart, pledging to reorganize the CRA to challenge the growing conservative shift in Japanese politics and voter preference.

In a press conference held on the next day, Co-Presidents Noda and Saito took responsibility for the setback and announced that they would step from the party leadership.