Although Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi encountered little difficulty in securing Diet passage of the fiscal 2000 budget Friday, the likelihood of him dissolving the Lower House for general elections in the near future seems more distant than ever.
Obuchi's administration has been marred by a series of scandals that have put the heat on the nation's police system, and the economy still lacks the pep a leader hopes for in an election year.
"Come election time, the ruling parties will not be able to appeal to voters simply with past achievements; they'll need some new (goals and visions)," said Takeshi Sasaki, a political science professor and dean of the law department at the University of Tokyo.