The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday began moving aggressively to expand its coalition government to include New Komeito — and secure a majority in the Diet's Upper House.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka held talks with Ichiro Ozawa, who heads the coalition partner Liberal Party, at the Liberal Party's headquarters in an attempt to seek a consensus on expanding the ruling camp. Afterward, Ozawa appeared to set conditions to any expansion.

Later, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who heads the LDP, told the LDP's executive meeting to launch formal discussions within the party to agree on forming a tripartite coalition.

"By strengthening ties with New Komeito and gaining its support to respond to public expectations, I would like to ask New Komeito to share policies (with us) and join the coalition," LDP Secretary General Yoshiro Mori quoted Obuchi as saying.

Mori said he plans to hold meetings with former presidents of the LDP and heads of each policy group or faction within the LDP to seek support.

After the LDP leadership gains the approval of its party members, Obuchi is expected to meet with New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki as early as this week to make the formal overture.

Nonaka, who spoke with Ozawa for 20 minutes, reportedly expressed the LDP's hopes to begin negotiations over a tripartite coalition soon to further stabilize the government.

Secretary General Mori, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chief Makoto Koga, Liberal Party Secretary General Hirohisa Fujii and Liberal Party Diet Affairs Committee Chief Toshihiro Nikai also attended the meeting.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ozawa said he basically accepted the LDP's hopes but indirectly suggested the Liberal Party will not participate in the negotiations with New Komeito until it confirms policy agreements between the LDP and the Liberal Party.

"I told the chief Cabinet secretary that we would like to wait for the end of the current Diet session and that we would first want to judge the LDP-Liberal coalition government before drawing a conclusion," Ozawa said.

Based on an agreement between the two parties prior to the launch of the coalition, the two partners have submitted a bill aimed at cutting 50 Lower House seats elected by proportional representation.

However, it remains uncertain whether the bill will be debated during the Diet session since New Komeito vehemently opposes the idea.

Ozawa also told Nonaka that sharing common basic policies would be a precondition to establishing a coalition government with New Komeito.

"Before forming a tripartite coalition, we think it is important to judge the achievement of the LDP-Liberal Party alliance first," Ozawa told reporters. "And then, if we decided to establish an alliance with New Komeito, we must agree on basic policies."

Earlier in the day, Nonaka told a regular news conference that gaining New Komeito's support in the Diet is indispensable to stabilizing the government.

He said the Obuchi administration would otherwise continue to face difficulty in pushing its legislation through the Diet, since the LDP and the Liberal Party lack a majority in the Upper House.

"It may be possible to ask for New Komeito's cooperation on a policy-by-policy basis," Nonaka said. "But if possible, we'd like to share the responsibility among the three parties in a coalition government and jointly work on the fiscal 2000 budget."

While a three-party coalition would bring legislative expedience, it could also spawn a political backlash.

Nonaka acknowledged that some religious groups supporting the LDP may feel uncomfortable about it forming an alliance with New Komeito, which is backed by Soka Gakkai, the nation's largest lay Buddhist organization.

"By sharing the responsibility in the coalition government and sharing basic policies, we must also make our government more transparent to groups that support us," he said.

Some LDP lawmakers have also voiced caution about alienating religious groups that support the LDP.

Meanwhile, the LDP also has to contend with the Liberal Party's concerns.

Obuchi stressed the importance of the LDP's current alliance with the Liberal Party and said he was consulting with Nonaka and Mori about a desirable form for the expected tripartite coalition.