CDP, DPFP, Nippon Ishin Chiefs to Meet Wed.

(The second paragraph should have read “…Tuesday…” instead of as sent.) CDP, DPFP, Nippon Ishin Chiefs to Meet Wed. Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)–The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People broadly agreed Tuesday to hold a meeting of their leaders on Wednesday. The move comes as it is closely watched whether the three opposition parties can unite behind a single candidate in an upcoming parliamentary vote to choose the next prime minister. At a meeting of the three parties’ secretaries-general on Tuesday, the DPFP’s Kazuya Shinba told the CDP’s Jun Azumi that the DPFP needs the CDP to change its policies on the Constitution and energy if the two parties are to join forces. Earlier in the day, Shinba met with Shunichi Suzuki, his counterpart from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Suzuki called for the DPFP’s cooperation for a stable government after Komeito left the LDP-led ruling bloc, noting that the LDP and the DPFP share similar views on the Constitution and energy policy. Shinba agreed that the two parties have similar basic philosophies, while urging the LDP to accept the DPFP’s proposals to raise the taxable income threshold and abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate by the end of the year. “We’ll see if you implement them,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]