The Liberal Democratic Party unveiled on Friday a draft of its policy agenda in the coming year, conspicuously avoiding any mention of a long-rumored plan of a merger with the Liberal Party.

The final version of the report is to be published during the party's annual assembly, scheduled for Jan. 19 in Tokyo.

According to party sources, LDP executives at one point considered announcing a plan to merge with the Liberals at the upcoming meeting. It dropped the idea, however, because of growing opposition from many members of their own party as well as in response to the Liberal Party's threat that it would leave the coalition at the end of the last Diet session, they said.

"We didn't discuss (a merger) at all," said Shinji Sato, chairman of the committee that drew up the draft.

The document describes the scheduled Group of Eight summit in July in Okinawa as "the biggest diplomatic issue" for the party.

The draft also pledged to make efforts to conclude a peace treaty with Russia by the end of this year after settling the long-standing dispute over four Russian-held islands off northeastern Hokkaido.