The Diet opens a 150-day session Monday amid widespread speculation in Nagata-cho that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may dissolve the House of Representatives and call a snap election sometime this year -- possibly even during the session.
Koizumi has repeatedly denied the rumors, but his words are not being taken at face value. Lower House members, whose four-year terms end in June 2004, widely expect to have to contest a general election before the year is out.
Liberal Democratic Party politicians close to Koizumi, including Secretary General Taku Yamasaki, have suggested a Lower House election may be held just before the LDP presidential poll in September, when Koizumi's term as party chief expires.