Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe backed off Wednesday from their earlier pledge to quickly get a bill passed that would allow a female on the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Their about-face came a day after the Imperial Household Agency announced that Princess Kiko, the wife of Emperor Akihito's second son, is pregnant. She is expected to have the baby in September or October.
Koizumi had maintained through Tuesday that he wanted the change to the paternal-line Imperial succession system to be enacted during the current Diet session.