Two opposition parties with members from the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, which was in power between 2009 and 2012, reunited Monday in a desperate attempt to survive amid slumping approval ratings.

But the new party formed by around 60 members of the Democratic Party and the Party of Hope is unlikely to replace the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan as the biggest opposition force in the Diet with a number of lawmakers not joining. The CDPJ is a splinter group of the Democratic Party.

The new party, the Democratic Party for the People, is co-headed by Kohei Otsuka, an upper house lawmaker who led the Democratic Party, and Yuichiro Tamaki, a lower house member who took the helm of the Party of Hope.

Before the reunion, the two parties together had 107 Diet members.

In a bid to clarify its stance against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, the new opposition party pledges to abolish part of the controversial security legislation, which expands the Self-Defense Forces' role overseas, deeming it could violate the pacifist Constitution.

The new party also vows to seek the termination of nuclear power generation in Japan in the 2030s.

The Abe government brought about the security legislation's entry into force in March 2016 and also seeks the resumption of Japan's nuclear power plants, many of which have been offline following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The Democratic Party was launched in March 2016 through the merger of the Democratic Party of Japan and another small opposition party.

In the run-up to the House of Representatives election last October, the Party of Hope was established by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike and then Democratic Party leader Seiji Maehara decided not to endorse anybody so as to let its lower house members run as candidates of the Party of Hope.

In the process, Democratic Party members who did not follow the move launched the CDPJ, which became the leading opposition force in the lower chamber.

The Party of Hope did not fare well in the general election, resulting in a landslide victory for Abe's LDP. </s> Kohei Otsuka, left, and Yuichiro Tamaki shake hands after their selection as co-leaders of the Kokumin Minshuto (People's democratic party) on May 7. (Shinichi Iizuka)

A new opposition party was established on May 7 through the merger of two parties, but it only attracted about 60 percent of the members who at one time belonged to those two entities.

The Kokumin Minshuto (People's democratic party) was formed through the merger of the Democratic Party and Kibo no To (Hope).

But only 62 members joined in the convention held at a Tokyo hotel on May 7 to formally launch the new opposition party, dashing hopes of it becoming the largest opposition bloc.

The Democratic Party was torn apart last year ahead of the Lower House election, and the latest move was intended to bring together the two major blocs.

But a number of veteran lawmakers from the former Democratic Party, such as Yoshihiko Noda, the last Democratic Party prime minister, submitted notices of their intent to leave the Democratic Party before it merged with Kibo no To. Moreover, a number of Kibo no To lawmakers also have expressed their intention to become independents rather than join the new party.

Kohei Otsuka, the head of the Democratic Party, and Yuichiro Tamaki, the leader of Kibo no To, will serve as co-leaders of the new party.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan will remain as the largest opposition bloc in the Lower House. It could take over the position of largest opposition party in the Upper House from the Democratic Party depending on the number of defections in that chamber. </s> TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Latest on Estonia's general election (all times local):

A center-right party that held the prime minister's office in Estonia for over a decade has a good-sized lead with ballots from more than half of polling stations counted.

Results from 280 of the small Baltic country's 451 polling places gave the Reform Party 32.3 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election held Sunday.

The party held the prime minister's post continuously from 2005-2016

The senior partner in the current coalition government, Prime Minister Juri Ratas' Center Party, had overcome a far-right nationalist party to reach second place with 18 percent.

Reform and Center both hope to keep the nationalist Estonian Conservative People's Party from increasing its presence in parliament. EKRE was running third with 17.3 percent.

Many of the returns so far are from smaller districts. The percentages could change greatly once counts come in from large districts in Estonia's capital, Tallinn.

The first results from a parliamentary election in Estonia put the main opposition party ahead and a far-right populist party placing ahead of the main party in the coalition now governing the small Baltic country.

With ballots from 122 of 451 polling stations counted, the center-right Reform Party had 37 percent of the vote from Sunday's election. The party held the prime minister's post continuously from 2005-2016

The nationalist Estonian Conservative People's Party had 15 percent and Prime Minister Juri Ratas' left-leaning Center Party had 13.4 percent of votes.

Some 26 percent of Estonia's nearly 1 million eligible voters made their choices online by a Feb. 27 electronic voting deadline. Those votes were tallied first and included in the polling station results.

Polls have closed in Estonia, where voters cast ballots in a parliamentary election that was expected to be a close race between the left-leaning party of the current prime minister and the main center-right opposition party.

Both Prime Minister Juri Ratas' Center Party and the center-right Reform Party shared the goal of keeping the nationalist Estonian Conservative People's Party at bay.

Sunday's election in the small Baltic country, a member of both NATO and the European Union, took place as the far-right Estonian Conservative People's Party, appears to be gaining popularity.

Nearly 1 million voters were eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature.

Officials said voter turnout was 57 percent four hours before polls closed.

The leader of Estonia's main opposition party has voted in the general election and accused Prime Minister Juri Ratas' government of "messing up" the small Baltic nation's taxation system.

Estonians are voting Sunday in a general election where the opposition center-right Reform Party is challenging Ratas' left-leaning Center Party with a focus on socio-economic issues, such as taxation.

Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas told The Associated Press while voting in central Tallinn that "the topic that most people talk about are the taxes" and that Ratas' Cabinet "has totally messed (up) the tax system, excise duties, income tax system and people are really annoyed by this."

Among other things, Ratas' government has substantially increased excise duties on alcohol, partly on health grounds, and reformed Estonia's flat income tax, a cornerstone of the economy. Estonia has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths in Europe.

Estonians have started voting in a parliamentary election in the small Baltic nation in a ballot where Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his Center Party are pitted against the center-right opposition Reform Party and where populists are seen making inroads.

Sunday's vote in the NATO and the European Union member of 1.3 million comes as the far-right, nationalist Estonian Conservative People's Party, EKRE, has substantially increased its popularity since the 2015 election.

Both main contenders wish to keep it at bay.

Nearly a million voters are eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature.

About 26 percent have previously cast their votes online. Electronic voting pioneer Estonia was the first country in the world to use online balloting for a national election in 2005. </s> TALLINN, Estonia — The Latest on Estonia’s general election (all times local):

Polls have closed in Estonia, where voters cast ballots in a parliamentary election that was expected to be a close race between the left-leaning party of the current prime minister and the main centre-right opposition party.

Both Prime Minister Juri Ratas’ Center Party and the centre-right Reform Party shared the goal of keeping the nationalist Estonian Conservative People’s Party at bay.

Sunday’s election in the small Baltic country, a member of both NATO and the European Union, took place as the far-right Estonian Conservative People’s Party, appears to be gaining popularity.

Nearly 1 million voters were eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature.

Officials said voter turnout was 57 per cent four hours before polls closed.

The leader of Estonia’s main opposition party has voted in the general election and accused Prime Minister Juri Ratas’ government of “messing up” the small Baltic nation’s taxation system.

Estonians are voting Sunday in a general election where the opposition centre-right Reform Party is challenging Ratas’ left-leaning Center Party with a focus on socio-economic issues, such as taxation.

Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas told The Associated Press while voting in central Tallinn that “the topic that most people talk about are the taxes” and that Ratas’ Cabinet “has totally messed (up) the tax system, excise duties, income tax system and people are really annoyed by this.”

Among other things, Ratas’ government has substantially increased excise duties on alcohol, partly on health grounds, and reformed Estonia’s flat income tax, a cornerstone of the economy. Estonia has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths in Europe.

Estonians have started voting in a parliamentary election in the small Baltic nation in a ballot where Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his Center Party are pitted against the centre-right opposition Reform Party and where populists are seen making inroads.

Sunday’s vote in the NATO and the European Union member of 1.3 million comes as the far-right, nationalist Estonian Conservative People’s Party, EKRE, has substantially increased its popularity since the 2015 election.

Both main contenders wish to keep it at bay.

Nearly a million voters are eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature.

About 26 per cent have previously cast their votes online. Electronic voting pioneer Estonia was the first country in the world to use online balloting for a national election in 2005. </s> Estonia's opposition Reform Party won the country's parliamentary election on Sunday, pulling off a surprising upset over center-left Prime Minister Juri Ratas's Center Party.

The economically liberal Reform Party secured 28.8 percent of the vote, according to final results posted online by the State Electoral Office.

The Center Party came in second with 23 percent, edging out the far-right EKRE, who managed to garner 17.8 percent of the vote — more than doubling their result from the last parliamentary election and making them the third-strongest party in Estonia's 101-seat parliament.

The junior partners in Ratas governing coalition, the center-right Pro Patria party and the Social Democrats, received 11.4 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.

The results differ widely from an opinion poll published ahead of the election which projected that Reform would come out on top, but that there would be a much tighter race with the Center Party. Several other opinion polls had predicted that Center would take the lead.

The results put Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas on track to become Estonia's first female prime minister, although she and her party will face difficult negotiations to form a governing coalition — particularly due to the major wins by the EKRE.

All other political parties in Estonia have ruled out forming a governing coalition with the far-right party, which garnered support from voters by promising to slash taxes and by vowing to curb immigration.

Besides partnering with EKRE, Kallas told public broadcaster ETV that the Reform Party would "keep all coalition options on the table."

She added that her pro-business party has "strong differences with Centre in three areas: taxation, citizenship, and education."

The Reform and Center parties have alternated control of the prime minister's office over the nearly three decades since Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union. The Reform Party governed consecutively between 2005 - 2016, until the government collapsed in a no-confidence vote in November 2016.

Nearly 1 million of Estonia's 1.3 million population were eligible to vote in Sunday's parliamentary election.

Every day, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up for the newsletter here. </s> In a dramatic move sure to change the landscape of the nation’s politics, the center-left Democratic Party decided Thursday to effectively disband its Lower House caucus and join Kibo no To (Party of Hope), a new conservative party led by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.

The effective sudden death of the nation’s largest opposition force could turn the Oct. 22 Lower House election into a two-way race between conservative forces: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and Kibo no To.

Public support for the DP has been dwindling for months, and the party was widely predicted to suffer a crushing defeat in the upcoming vote.

The proposal to shift allegiance to Koike’s movement, made by party president Seiji Maehara, was unanimously approved at a general meeting of DP lawmakers the same day. Under the plan, all DP candidates for the general election have been asked to abandon party membership and apply to join the official ticket of Kibo no To.

But it remains unclear how many DP applicants will be accepted by Kibo no To. During a TV interview on Wednesday, Koike, a right-leaning conservative, said her party will choose applicants from the DP after close consideration of their views on constitutional revision and security issues. The comment has been interpreted as indicating that Kibo no To will refuse to accept left-leaning DP lawmakers.

This means the powerful Lower House could be dominated by two major conservative parties after the Oct. 22 election, observers say.

“I made this proposal after thinking about what would realize a change in power again,” Maehara told DP lawmakers during the meeting. “We need to end Abe’s administration and create a two-party system.”

According to Maehara’s plan, the DP will give “full support” to Koike’s party in election campaigns, including financial support for former DP members running on the Kibo no To ticket.

Upper House DP members will retain their party membership and organizations.

How the DP’s Upper House caucus and Kibo no To will coordinate their policy platforms before the Lower House election has not yet been decided.

Ruling-party lawmakers were quick to criticize Maehara’s move as political maneuvering that failed to secure agreement with Kibo no To on key policy points.

“What’s really important is not the combination of parties, but what policy proposals they advocate. Voters are interested in that point and will judge accordingly” in the election, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Thursday.

Koike’s party, which was just launched on Monday, has so far advocated few concrete policy proposals in public, except for freezing the planned consumption tax hike planned for October 2019 and abandoning nuclear power at some point in the future.

Maehara has argued that revenues from the tax hike should be used for free education and day care services for children.

He also said 2015 security laws, which expanded the legal scope of Japan’s support for the U.S. military in times of crisis, are unconstitutional. But Koike has argued that the laws are needed to cope with the North Korean military threat.

During a Thursday news conference, Maehara said he has reached agreement with Koike on some policy issues and is optimistic about forming consensus on security issues. He didn’t offer details.

A senior DP member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the focus of Maehara’s decision was to beat the LDP by avoiding overlap between candidates from the DP and Kibo no To in several constituencies.

“Media people keep talking about ideals and policy proposals of a party in their reports. But this is about election tactics in fielding candidates,” the DP lawmaker said.

Indeed, Abe apparently chose to dissolve the Lower House on Thursday to take advantage of the weak, disorganized opposition parties.

Koike was believed to still be in the early stages of launching a national party, and support rates for the DP in media polls are lagging far behind those of the LDP.

As of Thursday, Kibo no To had only 14 lawmakers and lacks a national organization to back its candidates. But by accepting former DP members as candidates, the party can receive support from the DP’s local organizational machine, including help from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the nation’s largest labor union body better known as Rengo.

In return, DP members can take advantage of Koike’s popularity among voters.

“I want to achieve substance, rather than care about the name (of the party) only,” Maehara told DP lawmakers during Thursday’s meeting.

The predecessor of Democratic Party, formally called the Democratic Party of Japan, was set up in 1996 with founding members including former prime ministers Naoto Kan and Yukio Hatoyama.

After absorbing the Liberal Party led by Ichiro Ozawa, the DP took power by besting an LDP-led coalition in the 2009 Lower House election.

But the DP lost power in the 2012 general election after failing to meet a number of key election promises, including the drastic reorganization of the government budget. </s> Swedish political parties face weeks of haggling to form a government after voters delivered a hung parliament on Sunday, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats saying they hold the balance of power.

A preliminary allocation of parliamentary seats gave the centre-left bloc – uniting the minority governing Social Democrat and Green parties with the Left Party – 144 seats versus 143 for the centre-right Alliance bloc.

The Sweden Democrats, who want to leave the European Union, won 62 seats, up from 49 in the 349-seat Riksdag where 175 seats are needed to form a majority.

Doing a deal with them would give either bloc a majority but the mainstream parties have ruled out cooperating with a party which has roots in the white supremacist fringe.

Both blocs have declared themselves victors in the election, but need additional support to form a viable government without the Sweden Democrats, who want influence over immigration policy.

There are a number of ways out of the tangle.

The Alliance of the Moderates, Centre, Liberals and Christian Democrats looks set to be slightly smaller than the centre-left. But it will hope for backing from the Sweden Democrats to oust Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and to install Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson as his replacement.

However, a formal agreement with the Sweden Democrats would very likely see the Centre and Liberal parties, who want looser immigration policies, jump ship.

It is not clear whether the Centre and Liberal parties would take part in a government that had no formal support from the Sweden Democrats but in practice relied on their votes to install a prime minister.

On Monday, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson invited the Moderates and Christian Democrats to formal negotiations but was quickly rebuffed.

Akesson said his party would vote against any government that did not give it a say in policy.

The Social Democrats and Greens could retain power in the unlikely event that Prime Minister Lofven survives a mandatory vote on whether to replace him.

Lofven said he would remain in office in the coming weeks and called for cooperation across the political divide.

When voting for a prime minister in parliament, a proposal is passed unless a majority of all 349 lawmakers vote against. This has allowed minority governments to rule.

The Alliance would need the Sweden Democrats to back a vote to oust Lofven and install Kristersson.

The Alliance could join a grand coalition with the Social Democrats and possibly the Greens to exclude the Sweden Democrats. The Left Party, Sweden’s former Communist party, would also be left out.

But the Moderates – the biggest party in the Alliance – are not interested in cooperating with the Social Democrats and such a deal would also raise questions about democratic accountability. Voters might see the Sweden Democrats as the country’s only opposition party.

The Moderates could form a one-party government but that would require support from the Sweden Democrats as well as the smaller centre-right parties.

Moderate leader Kristersson has ruled this out, and the Centre and Liberal parties would probably not go along with the idea if the Sweden Democrats were given any significant say over policy while remaining outside the government.

Parliament opens on Sept. 25. If Lofven is ousted, the speaker is allowed to give a maximum of four prime ministerial candidates the opportunity to form a government. If they all fail, fresh elections must be called. There is no formal time limit for negotiations, but the deadline for the budget is Nov. 15.

If no new government is in place by then, the current government, continuing as caretakers, would put forward a budget until a new cabinet can take office. </s> ISTANBUL — Four opposition parties in Turkey announced a political alliance Saturday ahead of the country's June 24 national election, aiming to mount a meaningful challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.

Lawmaker Bulent Tezcan of the main opposition Republican People's Party announced the "nation alliance." His secular party is joining forces with the newly-founded nationalist Good Party, the Islamic-leaning Felicity Party and the center-right Democrat Party in a bid to weaken the ruling party's 16-year dominance in parliament.

The parties have nominated their own presidential candidates to run against Erdogan but will run as an alliance for the parliamentary election, which is scheduled for the same day.

The presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled for November 2019 but were moved up by more than a year. The vote will usher in a new system of governance, which was narrowly approved in a referendum last year. The executive presidency will abolish the office of the prime minister and concentrate more powers in the hands of the president.

Tezcan said parliamentary candidates from the Democrat Party would run under the Good Party. The small party has also announced that it would support Good Party leader and presidential candidate Meral Aksener, a former interior minister.

The alliance statement said it brings together "different lifestyles and political opinions" under democratic principles for peace and stability in Turkey.

But the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party —the second largest opposition party in parliament— has been kept out of the alliance amid heightened Turkish nationalism. Its two former leaders, seven other legislators and nearly 4,700 members are in jail fighting terror charges.

The ruling Justice and Development Party has its own alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party, which was once an opposition party, to jointly endorse Erdogan for the presidency and run together for parliament.

That alliance is supported by the far-right Islamic-leaning Great Unity Party, whose candidates will run under the ruling party's ticket. </s> A total of 204 of Sweden's 349 members of parliament voted no to Löfven as prime minister on Tuesday morning. No one abstained, 142 voted for Löfven and three MPs were not present in the chamber.

"Today, after the election, we're doing what we promised before the election," the Moderates' Ulf Kristersson, leader of the largest party in the centre-right Alliance opposition, told parliament ahead of the vote. "To the Alliance it is obvious that Sweden needs a new government."

Anders Ygeman, the group leader of the Social Democrats in parliament, argued that Sweden's September 9th election gave 143 seats to the four-party Alliance and 144 seats to the centre-left bloc of the Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party. The centre-right however has argued that the Left Party is not formally part of government and should therefore not be counted as part of the centre-left bloc.

The Social Democrats, Greens and Left voted for Löfven, while the Moderates, Centre, Liberals, Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats voted against him.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about the Swedish election

It will now be up to speaker of parliament Andreas Norlén to ask another party leader to try to form a government. Löfven is however set to lead a caretaker government during the weeks or months it is expected to take to find a new head of government.

Löfven told reporters after the vote that he remained prepared to stay on as prime minister if asked to do so by the speaker, saying he wanted to negotiate across the political divide to seek bi-partisan compromises.

"It is my wish to continue serving our country as prime minister. I want to lead a government that enjoys broad support in Sweden's parliament, so that we can leave bloc politics behind and take the country forward," he said.

Elections on September 9th left neither of Sweden's main blocs with an absolute majority, with just one seat separating the centre-left (Social Democrats and the Green Party) and the centre-right Alliance (Moderate Party, Centre Party, Christian Democrats, and Liberals).

The Sweden Democrats are the third largest group, and some right-wing MPs have suggested cooperation with the far-right party. The Centre Party and Liberals have said they would quit the Alliance if the Moderates and Christian Democrats were to negotiate a deal – for example on immigration – with the far-right in exchange for their support.

Another alternative would be for the Alliance to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats on big political issues, such as the autumn budget.

Tuesday morning's confidence motion follows an important day on Monday, which saw Norlén of the centre-right Moderates elected parliamentary speaker, apparently thanks to the support of the far-right. Although the vote was anonymous, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats had indicated they would support the Moderate Party's candidate, likely hoping for support for their own candidates in exchange.

Their candidate Björn Söder lost out on a deputy speaker post in parliament though, after losing votes for the roles of second and third deputy speaker. The position of second deputy speaker usually goes to a member of the third largest bloc or party, which would be the Sweden Democrats, and Söder was the incumbent in the role, but Left Party candidate Lotta Johnsson Fornarve was chosen as second deputy speaker and the Centre Party's Kerstin Lundgren as third deputy speaker.
Centrist opposition party Democratic Party merges with centre-right Party of Hope, forming the Democratic Party for the People. Members of both parties that disapproved of the merger choose to either join the Constitutional Democratic Party, become independents or remain in the Party of Hope.