New Komeito's bid to ban political donations from companies will be excluded from its policy agreement with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is due out today, officials of the two parties said Thursday.
The two parties have been holding policy coordination talks in preparation for launching a tripartite coalition in late September that includes the Liberal Party, the LDP's current coalition partner.
Yukihiko Ikeda, the LDP's policy affairs chief, said after a meeting with his New Komeito counterpart, Chikara Sakaguchi, that full-fledged discussion on the matter will not begin until the tripartite coalition is launched.
New Komeito's view differs, however. Sakaguchi said he hopes to solve the issue by the time his party joins the coalition.
"We are asking the LDP to decide who will discuss the matter with us as quickly as possible," Sakaguchi told reporters.
Sakaguchi quoted Ikeda as suggesting that the matter be discussed between the two parties' secretary generals, not policy chiefs, and that the Liberal Party join the discussion.
Banning politicians from receiving donations from companies and other organizations is one of the main policies New Komeito compiled in July.
The Political Funds Control Law, which took effect in 1995, stipulates that measures to insure such a ban must be taken by January 2000.