Nippon Ishin Chief Shows Readiness for Coalition Talks

Osaka, Sept. 26 (Jiji Press)–Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), said Friday that the opposition party will enter talks on joining the ruling coalition if the next leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party requests such talks. “It’s natural to accept” such a request, Yoshimura told reporters in the western Japan city of Osaka, where Nippon Ishin is based. Expanding the ruling coalition is a key campaign issue in the LDP’s leadership election, set for Oct. 4. “When we think about realizing our campaign pledges, we would naturally have (coalition) talks,” Yoshimura said. In deciding whether to join the ruling coalition, he said, agreeing on social security system reform aimed at lowering insurance premiums and a “deputy capital” plan to transfer some capital functions from Tokyo is “necessary and absolute conditions.” “Policy discussions come first,” he said, explaining that whether to join the ruling coalition would come next. Separately, Kazuya Shinba, secretary-general of the Democratic Party for the People, another opposition party, declined to say whether the party would enter coalition talks with the ruling bloc. No request for such talks has been made, he said at a press conference. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]