The leader of New Komeito said he does not object to a view expressed by Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, that the freeze on Japanese participation in U.N. peacekeeping forces should be lifted.
Speaking before a group of reporters in Saitama on Saturday, Takenori Kanzaki said, "There is nothing wrong with our lifting the freeze at an extraordinary Diet session in fall, since we at the three ruling coalition parties have already reached an agreement on that." The New Conservative Party is the third coalition party.
On Thursday, Yamasaki said in Washington at the end of his U.S. tour that the LDP would work toward lifting the freeze, adding that the LDP will also review Tokyo's five conditions for joining U.N. peacekeeping operations.