All of the Liberal Democratic Party members who voted against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills in the House of Representatives should leave the party when running in the Sept. 11 general election, LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe said Monday.
But Takebe denied reports the party would formally demand that the rebels leave before official campaigning kicks off Aug. 30, citing a lack of time to complete the necessary procedures.
"(The rebels) should know that if they run (as independent candidates) while being a party member, they will eventually be subject to penalization by the (party's) Committee for Penalty Discipline, which will be held after the election," Takebe said in an interview.