Shinto Heiwa (New Peace Party) and the Liberal Democratic Party agreed March 20 to open discussions next week on realizing Shinto Heiwa's demand for budgetary measures for social welfare issues.

Negotiations between the two parties' secretary generals and Diet affairs committee chairmen have raised speculation that Shinto Heiwa and the LDP are seeking closer cooperation. This, however, has repeatedly been denied by the opposition party. "We are holding talks with the LDP, hoping to realize our demands for the appropriation of more money for helping the disadvantaged," said Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, Shinto Heiwa's secretary general. "It is not that we are forming an alliance with the LDP."

Shinto Heiwa has been calling for a revision of the 1998 fiscal budget to introduce a 6 trillion yen income and corporate tax cut as well as tax incentives to encourage women to have more children and measures to reduce the financial burden of the elderly. The party is made up mainly of former members of the defunct Komei party, which was backed by the country's largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai.

However, the current fiscal budget bill was expected to clear the Lower House late March 20, and the LDP is hoping to reflect some of Shinto Heiwa's demands in a supplementary budget bill expected to be introduced to the Diet soon.

Shinto Heiwa says that if new measures are taken retroactively to April 1, they would amount to a de facto revision of the 1998 budget bill. While other opposition parties also submitted requests to the LDP for revising the 1998 budget bill, the ruling party rejected their demands and only approached Shinto Heiwa for further negotiations.