PRESS CONFERENCE
Hiroyuki Hosoda,
Secretary-General, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with simultaneous English interpretation.

Prospects for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to retain a majority in the lower house of the Diet are looking dimmer as the August 30 general election approaches.

Its manifesto has not helped reverse the party's falling popularity in recent public opinion polls.

The manifesto highlights three free years of pre-school education fees, the creation of 2 million job and boosting per capita household income by an average of 1 million yen in 10 years. As to its foreign policy, the LDP wants the Self Defense Forces to a go a step further by giving them the right to practice collective defense.

The LDP's Secretary General, Hiroyuki Hosoda, is expected to explain how his party is trying to regain public confidence, and update us on any strategic measures the party's taking to prevent it from losing power. He will visit the club less than a week before the official election campaign kicks off.

Hosoda started his career as a bureaucrat with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. He won his first lower house seat in 1990 and has been reelected 5 times. He has served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Koizumi administration, and has held his current post since 2008.

Hiroyuki Hosoda,　Secretary-General, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan