TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance said Wednesday it will choose new leadership this week following its crushing defeat in Sunday's recent House of Representatives election, after its co-leaders announced they would step down to take responsibility.

The candidates in Friday's contest to lead the new party through March 2027 are Junya Ogawa, former secretary of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Takeshi Shina, the CDPJ's former acting policy chief.

The Centrist Reform Alliance was formed in January as a new opposition force to challenge the conservative coalition, led by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The CRA brought together lower house members of the CDPJ and the Komeito party, the LDP's former coalition partner.

Former CDPJ leader Kenta Izumi has said he will not throw his hat in the ring, while no lawmaker from Komeito is expected to enter the race to replace co-leaders Yoshihiko Noda and Tetsuo Saito, who hail from the CDPJ and Komeito, respectively, according to a source familiar with the matter. Candidacies will be filed on Thursday.

In the Feb. 8 election, the CRA ended up securing only 49 seats, sharply down from its preelection strength of 167, as it was unable to gain voter support for its call to unite moderate voices against what it called a "rightward shift" in Japanese politics under Takaichi.

The race for leadership of the CRA, now the smallest main opposition party in the postwar era, comes ahead of a special parliamentary session on Feb. 18 that will see Takaichi reinstated as Japan's prime minister.