The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Shinshinto, the largest opposition party, decided Friday to jointly support an independent Upper House member as a candidate in October's Miyagi prefectural gubernatorial election.
The decision over the candidacy of Diet member Ichiro Ichikawa was reached at a meeting between Shinshinto chief Ichiro Ozawa and Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, a senior LDP lawmaker.
Ichikawa, who was elected to the Diet in 1995, will be competing with incumbent Gov. Shiro Asano, who has decided to run without support from any of the major parties, and other candidates.
Mitsuzuka serves as chief of the LDP's Miyagi chapter. Ozawa has just become Shinshinto's Miyagi chapter leader -- a post previously occupied by Lower House member Kazuo Aichi, who quit Shinshinto in July.
At the press conference, Ozawa said he would like to make the utmost efforts to support Ichikawa in cooperation with the LDP.
Mitsuzuka also said he hopes that this case will be a good model of various parties setting aside differences to jointly support a competent candidate.