The Liberal Democratic Party should cooperate with other parties to field a joint candidate for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in April, rather than nominate one from its own ranks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday.
The LDP "should choose (a candidate) through discussions with a wide variety of parties and groups, and should be careful so that it is not seen as pursuing party interests," the top government spokesman told a regular news conference.
LDP legislators from Tokyo and LDP metropolitan assembly members want to field former Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa as the party's own candidate in the April 11 race. But the party leadership, led by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, favors cooperating with some of the opposition parties in order to have a better chance of backing a winning candidate and to improve ties with the opposition camp in the Diet, especially New Komeito.