Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opens the 150-day regular Diet session today amid a series of scandals involving members of his Liberal Democratic Party and a Foreign Ministry bureaucrat.
The performance of Mori and his LDP-led coalition will naturally affect the results of the Upper House election, expected to be held July 29. Political pundits predict the coalition may lose its Upper House majority, which will undoubtedly shake the party leadership, including Mori, but will probably not see the LDP lose control of the government.
The coalition's immediate priority is to pass the 82.65 trillion yen fiscal 2001 budget before the new fiscal year begins April 1, a move the bloc hopes will help it regain public support by saving the economy from further deterioration.