Nippon Ishin to Mull Options Including Non-Cabinet Cooperation

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) on Saturday advanced final negotiations toward forming a coalition government, with Nippon Ishin considering options including supporting the LDP from outside the cabinet. Even in the event of the LDP agreeing to Nippon Ishin’s policy requests such as reducing the number of seats in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, Nippon Ishin chief Hirofumi Yoshimura intends to carefully consider whether his party should provide cooperation by sending ministers to the new cabinet or offer support without sending any minister. In the meantime, LDP President Sanae Takaichi, who is increasingly likely to be selected as prime minister, has begun considering appointing Nippon Ishin parliamentary affairs chief Takashi Endo as a special adviser to the prime minister. Nippon Ishin will hold an executive meeting in the western Japan city of Osaka on Sunday to discuss its final response over coalition talks. The third round of policy talks between the LDP and Nippon Ishin is scheduled for Monday. In a television program on Saturday, Yoshimura said Takaichi has proposed multiple cabinet posts for Nippon Ishin. He then emphasized, “We’re not seeking posts.” Regarding whether he would join the cabinet if a coalition were formed, Yoshimura said he would decide based on the perspective of which structure offers the highest likelihood of achieving the 12 policy demands from his party, including reducing the number of Diet seats, its “secondary capital” initiative and social security reform. Within Nippon Ishin, caution regarding the option of sending cabinet ministers is growing. A party executive said, “People will say we’re cozying up to the LDP just to get ministerial seats.” “The LDP won’t accept all our demands. We don’t have that many capable people either,” another Nippon Ishin executive said, expressing the view that cooperation from outside the cabinet would be preferable. Under such circumstances, Takaichi’s side approached Endo, who has served as a liaison between the LDP and Nippon Ishin, about appointing him as a special adviser to the prime minister. Nippon Ishin intends to respond positively to the proposal if negotiations are successful. Elsewhere in the TV program, Yoshimura reiterated his call for reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, by about 50, equivalent to roughly 10 pct of the current total of 465 seats. “Unless the concrete timing, number or percentage and targets are specified (in a document), we cannot agree (to forming a coalition),” he said. Regarding Nippon Ishin’s request to ban political donations from companies and other organizations, he hinted at the possibility of compromising with the LDP, which refuses to ban them. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]