OSAKA -- Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi should wait at least until after the Group of Eight summit to dissolve the Lower House for a general election, senior Liberal Democratic Party leaders appeared to have agreed over the weekend.

Hiromu Nonaka, deputy secretary general of the LDP, said in a lecture Sunday in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, that he wants Obuchi to call a general election after the July 21-23 summit, to be held in Okinawa.

He said the timing of the election should not depend on whether it would benefit the LDP or other parties in the ruling coalition, which also includes the Liberal Party and New Komeito.

Nonaka, at a gathering to support a New Komeito Lower House member, said the LDP will continue its alliance with the Buddhist-backed party after the election.

Obuchi has said he will decide on the timing of the election after the fiscal 2000 budget clears the Upper House.

A general election must be held before the current four-year terms of Lower House members expire on Oct. 19.

LDP policy chief Shizuka Kamei, speaking Sunday in Shuzenji, Shizuoka Prefecture, suggested that Obuchi will probably wait until October to call the election.

Former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato, speaking at a gathering in his native Yamagata Prefecture, also said Obuchi should wait "hopefully until October" in order to regain support for the LDP.

With Obuchi's coalition Cabinet suffering from waning public support in media polls, Kato warned that the LDP could suffer a serious setback if the election is held anytime soon.

"The LDP will fare poorly if an election is held at this point," Kato warned. "The party may win modest victories in electoral districts, but it may see its seats won through proportional representation fall from 70 in the previous election to fewer than 50."

Coalition squabble

New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki lashed out Sunday against a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers who oppose his party's presence in the LDP-led ruling coalition.

Speaking at Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture, Kanzaki said the group's argument is "outrageous."

Noting that New Komeito's participation in the alliance was decided upon in an official party-to-party agreement, Kanzaki said the lawmakers "should make such statements after leaving the LDP."

Kanzaki was referring to a group of about 30 LDP lawmakers, led by former Home Affairs Minister Katsuhiko Shirakawa.

Pointing out that New Komeito is backed by Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization, the lawmakers charge that New Komeito's participation in the tripartite coalition runs counter to the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

Kanzaki responded by saying that the group's actions are being influenced by anti-Soka Gakkai religious organizations like Rissho Koseikai, adding that they are the ones violating the Constitution.

New Komeito has already indicated that it will not cooperate in election campaigns in the districts of the group's lawmakers.

Soka Gakkai, which claims a nationwide membership of about 8 million, is known for its ability to gather votes, which could be a deciding factor in a close race.

The party has also indirectly urged LDP leaders to punish the group's members for running counter to the coalition agreement. But LDP leaders appear reluctant to take any meaningful action.

The anti-Soka Gakkai religious organizations are among the LDP's traditional supporters, and it is seen as possibly unwise for the party to antagonize them with a general election coming later in the year.