Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa on Wednesday backed down from his hardline posturing and indicated that his party will remain in the coalition government in order to realize its policies.
"There are basic policies for the nation that were agreed upon among the three (ruling) parties but have yet to be realized," Ozawa told a regular press conference, referring particularly to policy agreements on national security and education reached in September.
Last week, Ozawa said the Liberal Party, a member of the tripartite ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party, was ready to break away unless the government reviews its secondary supplementary budget plan for fiscal 1999, due out next week.
Ozawa has opposed the budget plan as it will include details on expenditure for the planned nursing-care insurance system for the elderly, to be launched early next year. Ozawa insists that the nursing-care service should be financed by revenue from the consumption tax, not by an insurance system.
On Wednesday, however, Ozawa said there are other policies -- such as national security and education -- that will form the basis of the nation and therefore deserve greater emphasis.