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.