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.