New Komeito, a junior ruling-coalition member, pledged at the party's annual convention in Tokyo on Saturday to more aggressively pursue reforms rather than sacrificing its agenda to maintain the coalition.

"As our alliance (with the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Conservative Party) has entered its second year, it is now a crucial moment for us to carry out reforms and prove our worth," New Komeito President Takenori Kanzaki told some 600 party executives, lawmakers, guests and audience members.

Kanzaki, who invited Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and NCP leader Chikage Ogi to this year's convention, also called for greater solidarity among the three parties in order to maintain the current tripartite coalition regime.

Mori, meanwhile, delivered a formal apology to New Komeito for a recent series of LDP blunders that have seen the Mori administration's approval rating dip below 20 percent. "I apologize that some of my remarks and the change of chief Cabinet secretary have troubled New Komeito, which has continuously supported the Cabinet as a member of the ruling camp," Mori said.

"New Komeito, however, has never forgotten its responsibility for, and attitude toward, tackling the many difficulties that Japan faces. . . . I give my apologies and deep respect to all of you for your sincere attitude toward supporting the administration."

Mori, whose speech was his first at a New Komeito convention as the LDP's leader, noted that his attendance Saturday was "a symbolic one that represents a new era of ties" between the LDP and New Komeito. Kanzaki blew his own trumpet by claiming that Japanese politics have significantly changed since New Komeito joined the ruling alliance in October 1999. He claimed that the party has brought stability to the LDP-led ruling camp and shifted the political focus to New Komeito's trademark humanitarian issues, including the environment, human rights and education.

These achievements, however, have been costly for the party. New Komeito lost a quarter of its pre-election strength in the previous Lower House election in June. And, during the current Diet session, a bill proposed by the party to give local suffrage to permanent foreign residents has been kept away from deliberations amid opposition from the LDP.

At Saturday's convention, Kanzaki targeted 10 million votes in the proportional representation segment of the Upper House election in July.

New Komeito, a political arm of the lay-Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, is said to have a solid vote base of nearly 8 million. "It is probably true that the character of New Komeito has not been fully on display, as we've given priority to the stability of the ruling bloc," Kanzaki told the convention. "But from now, we'll bring our ability and existence into play." A barrage of questions and criticism relating to the party's alliance with the LDP was fired at party executives.

Some claimed the party should end its "self effacing" attitude and be more vocal toward the LDP, while others openly questioned the possibility of New Komeito surviving the next election amid the Cabinet's dismal approval ratings.

During the convention, which is held annually, prosecutor-turned-lawmaker Kanzaki was reappointed party president in an uncontested election. Party members also reappointed Toshiko Hamayotsu as deputy president and Tetsuzo Fuyushiba as New Komeito's secretary general.

Party officials announced plans to improve the nation's pension, medical insurance and public nursing-care systems through radical reforms, as well as measures to deal with the snowballing fiscal debt. The party's annual resolutions adopted at the convention proposed making the 21st century "a century that values individuals, not nations," in an apparent warning to some conservative lawmakers who express nationalistic sentiment.