Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto will personally appeal to Diet members to join a new political party he is forming in mid-September and run in the next Lower House election, sources in his local political group said Tuesday.
The formal announcement of the new party is expected to be made at a fundraiser for Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) on Sept. 12. A public discussion between Hashimoto and Diet members interested in Osaka Ishin no Kai's platform for the national election, which is expected to be finalized by the end of this week, will take place in Osaka on Sept. 9, immediately following the end of the current Diet session, the sources said.
"We're not going to call on political parties to participate in the public discussion. We want to speak to Diet members individually," Osaka Gov. and Osaka Ishin no Kai Secretary General Ichiro Matsui said Monday.
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