Taro Aso, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday he believes it is unlikely that the House of Representatives will be dissolved at the end of the current legislative session.
Aso made the comment in reference to a bill to aid reconstruction efforts in postwar Iraq on a morning TV program.
The bill will "in principle will pass through the Diet, and the probability that the Lower House will be dissolved as a result of this is not zero, but it is becoming slim," he said.
Aso also predicted that legislation on allowing Self-Defense Forces elements to participate in overseas operations with international forces will probably be drawn up after the next elections. He added that revisions to the Constitution will be discussed also at the same time.
The Diet session was originally slated to end Wednesday, but the ruling camp extended it until July 28 to debate various issues, including legislation on dispatching SDF units to Iraq to help in reconstruction efforts there.