A senior lawmaker of New Komeito said Thursday a bill to upgrade the Defense Agency to a ministry should not go to the Diet during the current ordinary session.

New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba told a meeting of senior party legislators in Tokyo that the issue of whether to upgrade the agency should be considered after a legal framework for granting the government emergency powers in the event of a foreign invasion, including measures to protect civilians, is secured, said members of the party, which is part of the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition.

His remarks imply the bill will probably be brought to the Diet at its next extraordinary session, expected to convene in the fall.

The Cabinet endorsed seven bills earlier this week to supplement Japan's first full-fledged war-contingency legislation, with the hope of Diet passage during the ongoing session, scheduled to end June 16.

Fuyushiba apparently hopes the Diet, which has a tight schedule in the current session, will give sufficient time to deliberating on the seven bills before discussing the Defense Agency's status.

Last week, three defense-related panels of the ruling LDP agreed to submit a bill to upgrade the agency to a ministry during the ongoing session.

On Tuesday, the LDP asked New Komeito for support on the move.

New Komeito, the partner of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dominant LDP, agreed to consider the bill after the Diet passes the seven war-contingency bills.

The government's defense entity was launched in 1954 as an agency, apparently to maintain a low profile due to Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.

But moves to upgrade the agency to a ministry have been gathering momentum among conservative lawmakers since the 1990s.