The Liberal Party has to work harder to structurally reform society now that it is a governing partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa, head of the Liberal Party, said Monday.

"As it stands now, Japan is on its way to a fast decline," Ozawa said during the party's national convention. "The coalition government of the LDP and the Liberal Party is a means to halt that decline."

Ozawa emphasized the importance of structural reforms to correct what he calls "ambiguity" in various systems of a society that resulted from the LDP's 38-year reign.