Senior New Komeito officials approved a new action plan and policy platform Monday so it can join the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party in a new coalition government.

The action plan drafted states: "One option for New Komeito is to clarify its position to participate in the government and to be part of the coalition government."

The basic policy, made up of eight chapters, covers various issues the middle-of-the-road party considers key to the 21st century. These include an improved welfare system, revitalization of Japan's economic activities and the creation of an environment-friendly society.

The drafts of the action plan and policy platform will be presented to the party's rank-and-file at its convention on Saturday.

Once approved, New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki will likely meet Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi as early as July 26 to convey the party's readiness to enter negotiations to form a coalition government, according to New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba.

Explaining the party's action plan, Fuyushiba said Japanese politics has entered the era of coalition government, and that the LDP can no longer exercise leadership by itself.

He said New Komeito will seek "a consensus-building style of politics."

"It is one of our choices to make a step forward and join the Cabinet, participate in a budget compiling process, get involved in planning and negotiating processes for various bills and reflect our opinions through such processes," Fuyushiba said.

The party's basic policy draft urges the government to use the consumption tax only for welfare programs and proposes to increase the government's share of funding for the national pension program to 50 percent from the current 33 percent.

New Komeito policy chief Chikara Sakaguchi told reporters that the party does not aim to cover all the necessary costs for welfare programs with consumption tax revenues.

The party hopes to seek the best combination of tax revenues, insurance premiums and user fees, he added.

On the economic front, the policy draft calls for achieving an annual economic growth rate of 2 percent by fiscal 2000.

It also says the government proceed as scheduled with the depositor protection system -- which reduces deposit protection in the event of a bank collapse to a maximum of 10 million yen per depositor -- from April 2001. However, the party will also try to create a new safety net.

The policy draft also calls for introducing a multiple-seat electoral system, with three seats in each constituency, while cutting 50 Lower House seats.