About 120 members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party joined major lobby groups for a rally Thursday to oppose participation in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, stepping up pressure on the Abe administration to maintain barriers on sensitive items in the farming, fishing and medical markets.
Almost twice as many Diet members showed up for this rally than a similar meeting last month. An association of LDP Diet members opposing the TPP now has 233 lawmakers, up from 203 last month, the rally organizer said.
Nineteen major lobby groups sent representatives to the rally, including national associations from the agriculture, fishing, forestry, stock farming and sugar production industries as well as organizations of medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists. All have long served as powerful vote-gathering machines for the LDP.