Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, who is set to leave the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party after severely criticizing the party leadership, and former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma confirmed April 5 their plans to launch a new party, which were revealed April 3.

Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma answers questions from reporters in Tokyo on April 5. KYODO PHOTO

Hiranuma, an independent who left the LDP in 2005, broke the news after meeting at a Tokyo restaurant with Yosano and other like-minded lawmakers to discuss the basic policies of the new party, its formal title and its membership.

Among the participants were former LDP Acting Secretary General Hiroyuki Sonoda, who tendered a letter of resignation to the party April 5, and former transport minister Takao Fujii, an Upper House member from the LDP.

The LDP, still smarting from its historic defeat in last summer's general election, is struggling to reassert itself ahead of the Upper House election expected in July.

Yosano, Hiranuma and the others are partly motivated by their desire to stop the Democratic Party of Japan from winning a majority in the Upper House, and believe the LDP, with its low support rate, is unable to offer an alternative to voters.

The focus is also on who will be the fifth Diet member in the new party; five are needed to qualify for subsidies and other benefits.

Regarding the new party's policies, the participants are believed to have discussed the future of the nation's fiscal health, which Yosano advocates restoring, and the privatization of postal services, which the former finance minister advanced but Hiranuma opposed.