LDP to highlight policies during election campaign: Abe

September 30, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his eagerness Saturday to focus on national policies during the upcoming campaign period for the Oct. 22 House of Representatives election.

"We will honestly promote our policies in this tough election battle," Abe, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told a meeting of executives from the party's local chapters across the country.

By highlighting achievements his government has produced, Abe hopes to distinguish the LDP-led ruling coalition from a new national party launched by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike earlier this week, observers said.

Amid Koike's Kibo no To (Party of Hope) emerging as the LDP's biggest contender in the Lower House race, to be kicked off on Oct. 10, Abe underscored the importance of a stable government.

The 2009 boom for the then Democratic Party of Japan, now Democratic Party, forced the LDP out of power and "merely brought about confusion and an economic slump," Abe stressed.

At the meeting, the LDP decided to send prominent party members, such as Shinjiro Koizumi, chief deputy secretary-general, to closely contested constituencies. Jiji Press