After months of hardball with the ruling camp, Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe hinted he will cooperate with the Democratic Party of Japan in passing a critical bond-issuance bill.
"We will agree to deliberate" with the DPJ on certain key issues, including legislation to issue bonds necessary to fund the fiscal 2012 budget, Abe said Thursday at a news conference in Tokyo.
The main opposition party had insisted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda first set a date for dissolving the Lower House in exchange for its support over the bill in the Diet, but Abe's remarks suggest LDP leaders now plan to get the bond issue out of the way before pressing Noda to call a snap election.