The LDP and three opposition parties today will enter full-scale negotiations to revise bills to reform the ailing financial system, pushing aside the dilemma over the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.
During their meeting Tuesday, the Democratic Party of Japan, Shinto Heiwa (New Peace Party) and the Liberal Party agreed to go ahead with the talks even though they remain opposed to the Liberal Democratic Party's plan to inject taxpayer money into the LTCB.
"We're not giving approval to the injection of taxpayers' money into the LTCB," a DPJ official said. "But if the government and the LDP want to do so, they can do so under their own responsibility."
Also today, the LDP will present revisions to six financial-stabilization bills proposed by itself and the government, taking into consideration ideas included in the opposition parties' counterproposal.
On Tuesday, Makoto Koga, chairman of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, called for a quick compromise, pointing to a planned meeting between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and U.S. President Bill Clinton later this month.
But the negotiations could bog down: The DPJ's senior official said that the talks should be based on the opposition's four bills, not on those proposed by the LDP and the government.