CDP, DPFP Leaders to Hold Talks as Early as Tues.

Tokyo, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)--Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda and Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki will hold talks as early as Tuesday, according to an agreement reached at Friday's meeting of the two opposition parties' secretaries-general and parliamentary affairs chiefs.

The agreement came after the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lost its majority in the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of Japan's parliament, in Sunday's election. The main opposition CDP aims to strengthen cooperation with the smaller opposition DPFP through the upcoming leaders' talks and other occasions.

Also at Friday's meeting, CDP Secretary-General Junya Ogawa, his DPFP counterpart, Kazuya Shinba, and others affirmed that the two parties will initiate discussions on basic policies, such as diplomacy and security, at policy-affairs-chief level, with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, an umbrella organization of labor unions in Japan that supports the two parties, also joining the talks.

Furthermore, the CDP and DPFP agreed to cooperate in dealing with parliamentary affairs, including the appointments of standing committee chiefs in the Lower House, and in realizing political reforms in response to a slush fund scandal at the LDP.

Friday's meeting did not touch on a vote to elect a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session planned to be convened on Nov. 11, apparently as the DPFP has already unveiled a plan for its members to vote for its leader, Tamaki, in a possible runoff.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]