JAPAN TIMES



 

Leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People have failed to reach an accord in their negotiations on the proposed merger of the major opposition parties.

“We agreed to discuss the process and results of our merger negotiations (with) our respective parties,” CDP leader Yukio Edano told reporters after his meeting Friday with DPP chief Yuichiro Tamaki.

Edano didn’t disclose details of the meeting, which lasted about three hours. Tamaki, standing next to Edano, made no remarks.

The meeting, which was joined by CDP Secretary-General Tetsuro Fukuyama and his DPP counterpart, Hirofumi Hirano, came after Edano and Tamaki held informal talks on Tuesday and Thursday.

Edano had called for a merger accord to be reached before the start of this year’s regular session of the Diet on Jan. 20. But Tamaki sought careful discussions without setting a deadline, since many DPP lawmakers in the Upper House remain cautious about the proposed merger.

The DPP is set to hold a joint meeting of its members in both chambers of the Diet on Wednesday, while the CDP plans to hold executive meetings Tuesday.

Based on a proposal by Edano, the CDP and DPP secretaries-general continued talks on the parties’ possible merger, reaching a broad agreement late last month.

Meanwhile, they have left details, such as the name of the possible merged party, to be decided by the leaders.