A coalition government led by the Liberal Democratic Party represents the only viable choice when voters go to the polls June 25, according to the party's No. 2 man.
LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka said in a recent interview with The Japan Times that he believes the nation will continue to be ruled by coalition governments for up to another decade, as his party suffered a serious setback in the last Upper House election in 1998 and will not be able to control both chambers of the Diet alone for a while to come.
The LDP, which currently controls the government under a tripartite alliance with New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, is pitching the upcoming Lower House vote as a choice between the current LDP-led alliance and any bloc that might be formed with the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, at its center.