The three ruling parties agreed Friday on joint campaign pledges for the upcoming Lower House election that include bringing forward public works projects and the creation of 500,000 jobs through the promotion of information and technology industries.
Details of the tripartite election pledges, the first of their kind compiled by the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition, were officially announced Friday afternoon by the three parties' policy affairs chiefs.
LDP policy affairs chief Shizuka Kamei said that in the last general election in 1996, the three ruling parties -- the LDP, the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake -- did not draw up a joint campaign pledge. He said that was one of the reasons for the coalition's breakup.