The government and ruling coalition parties are considering extending an originally planned three-day special Diet session to about one week, partially meeting requests by opposition parties, government sources said Thursday.

The new schedule is being discussed behind closed doors by the coalition government and the Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition groups, the sources said.

Initially, the coalition had planned to hold a three-day special session starting Wednesday to vote on the prime minister and mainly focus on other procedures involving the newly elected House of Representatives, including selecting the Lower House speaker and the chairs of standing and special committees.