The political situation appears to be moving out of deadlock. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reportedly has made up his mind to dissolve the Lower House for a December general election as two of the three conditions that he set for dissolving the Lower House are likely to be met.
The No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have agreed with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan to cooperate in enacting a bill to float bonds to cover some 40 percent of the fiscal 2012 budget. The two opposition parties even agreed to revise the bill so that the government could float bonds for budgets through fiscal 2015. Both also will start talks for selecting members of a "national conference" to discuss social welfare reform.
As for the third condition — enactment of a bill to reduce the disparity in vote value between depopulated rural areas and densely populated urban areas in a Lower House election — the DPJ and the two opposition parties have yet to reach an agreement. The DPJ should make a concession to the LDP and Komeito.