The internal strife in the Liberal Democratic Party continued Thursday as at least 12 of the party's prefectural chapters said they would back 18 of the 37 postal privatization opponents in the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election.
The chapters' decisions defy Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's order as LDP president not to put the rebels on the party ticket.
Officials at LDP chapters in Akita, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Okayama, Tokushima, Saga and Oita told The Japan Times they would support 13 of the 37 members who voted against the postal privatization bills in the Lower House in July, even if the party's headquarters does not endorse them.