Following Tuesday's re-election of Keizo Obuchi as Liberal Democratic Party president, the secretaries general of three would-be political allies met for the first time Friday to launch full-scale talks toward forming a tripartite coalition.
The LDP's bid to involve New Komeito and beef up its power base in the Upper House, where the current LDP-Liberal Party coalition lacks a majority, seems set to face further challenge.
Hirohisa Fujii of the Liberal Party said he told his counterparts during the 60-minute meeting that a trilateral agreement on the reduction of Diet seats is a precondition to launching a new coalition. "There was no objection," Fujii asserted.