Ex-Foreign Minister Tanaka to join DPJ

TOKYO, Aug. 15 Kyodo -
Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and her husband Naoki Tanaka said
Saturday they have agreed to join the main opposition Democratic Party of
Japan.
Tanaka, a former independent House of Representatives member, and her husband,
who belongs to the House of Councillors, reached an agreement in a meeting with
DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama.
With the accord, Tanaka is set to run in the upcoming general election as an
official DPJ candidate in the No. 5 constituency in Niigata Prefecture, the two
told a news conference.
Tanaka, a daughter of late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, said, ''I need a place
as (the Japanese political scene) develops into a two-party system.''
''I cannot realize my promises to the electorate alone,'' she said.
Tanaka resigned as a lower house lawmaker in August 2002 after being slapped
with an order to suspend membership in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for
two years in connection with money scandals involving her state-paid
secretaries.
After leaving the LDP, Tanaka won a seat in the lower house election in 2003 as
an independent candidate. Later, the outspoken former foreign minister
participated in a parliamentary group affiliated with the DPJ.
The DPJ, which is widely seen to have a good chance of taking power after the
Aug. 30 general election, had decided on Aug. 6 to back Tanaka in the race.
Her husband left the LDP last October and has been an independent upper house
lawmaker since then.
==Kyodo