The government's annual budget for fiscal 1999 hasn't been compiled yet, but Takenori Kanzaki, leader of New Komeito, is already against it.
In what appears to be a ploy to divide politicians vacillating between joining the opposition camp or a loose coalition that includes the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Kanzaki said Tuesday that his party would endorse the third supplementary budget but oppose the annual budget for 1999.
The remarks were immediately criticized by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka. "Political parties that are thinking seriously about this nation and its people should determine whether to approve or oppose a budget by making a thorough review of it," Nonaka said, "after it is compiled."