A senior official of the Japan Restoration Party said Sunday the new party will include in its policy pledges for next month's general election the need for Japan to join negotiations for a multilateral free trade accord and a proposed amendment to the Constitution.

Ichiro Matsui, secretary general of the political party led by former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, told reporters in Osaka that the party will announce the policies when Ishihara and Hashimoto meet the press in Tokyo next Thursday.

The proposal revealed by Matsui, also Osaka governor, on Japan's participation in talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership was not included in the party's draft pledges for the Dec. 16 election, compiled earlier and obtained by Kyodo News.

November 25, 2012

Source: Kyodo News