TOKYO -- As Japan's demoralized opposition attempts a dramatic realignment in hopes of unseating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in next month's general election, it has found a reluctant ally in Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who now stands in a position to reshape the political landscape.
Koike declared war on Abe on Monday, three days before the lower house was dissolved, by launching her Party of Hope. The Abe government is "taking too long with reforms," she told reporters that day. She also slammed the prime minister over the "chummy" selection process for a veterinary school operator in a special economic zone -- one of his government's few deregulation initiatives.
