Liberal Democratic Party chief Shinzo Abe indicated Monday for the first time that his party may stop pressing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to dissolve the Lower House and hold an election by the end of the year, and will instead cooperate to get Noda's deficit-covering bond bill passed.

"Unless we hurry up, the government will fall behind in its payments, so we believe" the bill's passage should be "separate" from the Lower House dissolution, Abe said on a TV program.

His remarks suggest the LDP is seeking to create an environment where the main opposition party's cooperation with Noda's Democratic Party of Japan-led government to secure passage of key bills will nonetheless ultimately force Noda to dissolve the Lower House.