No. 1 opposition party Shinshinto announced Friday that its Diet members would gather later today to discuss disbanding into two new parties to be launched in early January.
One of the new parties will be based on the Komei party, while the other is seen forming around members with loyalty to Shinshinto President Ichiro Ozawa.
"We are going to handle procedures that will effectively split the party in two," Ozawa said at a news conference following consultation with top five executives in the party. Ozawa said to reporters he would reveal his intentions at Shinshinto's general assembly of Diet members this afternoon.
Ozawa will probably break up the party so a new one comprising about 100 conservative Diet members loyal to him can be formed, according to sources. Eventually, the party aims to join forces with conservative elements in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party when the time comes for Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to step down, the sources said.
The announcement comes only a day after Ozawa made a proposition to Komei head Tomio Fujii that 19 Lower House legislators tight with Komei quit Shinshinto to run in the Upper House election next summer by themselves, the sources said.