Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Monday that Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will try to meet Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa before his scheduled visit to China on Thursday to secure his understanding on the entry of New Komeito into the current two-party coalition.
Obuchi initially sought a meeting with New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki before his trip to formally ask the second largest opposition party to join the alliance.
According to Nonaka, who held talks with Obuchi and other senior members of Obuchi's Liberal Democratic Party faction Sunday night, Obuchi decided that it would be better to first seek the support of the coalition's junior partner.
Ozawa has been demanding that policy agreements made upon the launch of the current coalition between the LDP and the Liberal Party government must be carried out before discussing an alliance with New Komeito.
One of the points of contention concerns the reduction of Lower House seats elected through proportional representation, a pledge the LDP is reluctant to implement because New Komeito is adamantly against the proposal.
Twenty-nine of its 42 Lower House members were elected through the system, which unlike the single-seat constituencies, is seen to favor smaller parties.
Following Nonaka's remarks Monday, executives of the LDP and the Liberal Party held a regular joint meeting and agreed to seek timing for a top-level meeting as early as possible, according to officials of the two parties.