Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Wednesday the general election should not be held around the time of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly poll on July 12, as New Komeito will concentrate all its efforts on the metro race.
"We have been told by New Komeito that they will be unable to back the Liberal Democratic Party if the dissolution of the Lower House and the general election come when they are devoting themselves to the (metro) assembly election," Kawamura said in a speech in Tokyo. "We cannot ignore what (New Komeito) says."
Kawamura also stressed it is necessary to gain Diet approval of the fiscal 2009 extra budget prior to the general election. "It is the feeling of Prime Minister (Taro) Aso that the Lower House dissolution should follow (the extra budget's approval)," he said.
But he suggested the dissolution may come sooner if the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition party, opposes the supplementary budget.