The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party on Monday agreed to launch five project teams on five key issues in an effort to continue their talks toward establishing a coalition government.
The planned coalition hit a new snag Monday when the Liberal Party expressed dissatisfaction with the LDP's "insincere" attitude. A scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa Monday morning was canceled.
The meeting was to finalize a policy agreement between the two parties. However, they failed to narrow differences over security issues in working-level talks Sunday.