The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, is planning a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet over Monday night's Upper House panel vote on wiretapping bills.
Meanwhile, Liberal Party chief Ichiro Ozawa said Tuesday evening that he will make a decision "in a day or two" over whether his party will pull out of its coalition with Obuchi's Liberal Democratic Party because of differences over a pending bill to cut 50 proportional representation seats from the Lower House.
Even if the Liberals pull out of the alliance, however, a no-confidence vote against Obuchi is likely to be voted down by the LDP and New Komeito, which intends to join the coalition; New Komeito and the LDP form a comfortable majority in both chambers of the Diet.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.