The Liberal Democratic Party will trumpet in the upcoming general election all of the policy pledges Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made in the recent party leadership race, LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki said Saturday.
Koizumi's pledges include timetables for the privatization of postal services and public highway operators, which face opposition from many LDP heavyweights, including those who backed Koizumi and helped ensure his easy re-election as party president Sept. 20.
But Yamasaki told a news conference in his home district in Fukuoka that he expects the party to adopt the prime minister's pledge as its election "manifesto" at its forthcoming decision-making meetings.
"We hope to present (a draft manifesto) to the party's formal organs and decide it shortly," Yamasaki said. "It builds on every aspect of the public pledges made by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the party presidential race."
The LDP will also promise to draw up draft revisions to the Constitution by November 2005, when the party marks its 50th anniversary, he said.