Top executives from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday effectively endorsed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to shelve the planned hike of the unpopular consumption tax, despite opposition from several party leaders earlier in the day.

At a meeting Monday evening, Abe explained his decision to postpone the hike planned for April to October 2019.

None of the attendants at that meeting objected, LDP Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki said, adding that the party would attempt to reach a formal consensus on the issue Tuesday at a policy affairs council session.

Tanigaki, a former finance minister, had initially opposed Abe's plan.

But during a news conference following the evening meeting, Tanigaki indicated that he will follow Abe's lead, saying that his role is to form consensus among party members, not to push his own opinion on policy issues.

"My job boils down to coordinating opinions within the party so we can stick together for the Upper House election campaign," Tanigaki said.

Abe is expected to formally announce his decision Wednesday at a news conference to conclude the current Diet session that wraps up the same day.

On Monday, Abe met with a number of top leaders from the LDP and coalition partner Komeito to explain his decision.

Earlier in the day, LDP policy chief Tomomi Inada had voiced her opposition to the plan, saying the tax should be raised at least 1 percentage point next year.

If the rate hike is to be postponed, the Lower House should be dissolved beforehand as a way of asking voters to endorse the decision, Inada reportedly told Abe.

The public opposition from Inada and Tanigaki, as well as from Finance Minister Taro Aso, is a rare sight in Japanese politics, where party executives and Cabinet members almost never voice public objections to decisions by a prime minister — especially on key policy issues.

Under the current plan, the sales tax rate is set to be raised from 8 percent to 10 percent in April. That hike, the second phase of a two-part increase, was originally scheduled for October 2015, but was postponed by Abe in November 2014. After that deferment, Abe dissolved the Lower House, leading his party to a landslide victory in elections the following month.

Speculation has been rife that he may repeat this tactic by again dissolving the Lower House for a general election to take place concurrently with an Upper House poll in July.

However, Toshihiro Nikai, who heads the LDP's executive council, said he believes Abe will not dissolve the Lower House this time — despite demands that he do so from Inada, Aso and Tanigaki.

"We have already told (Abe) that a simultaneous election should not be held. I think the prime minister has the same view." Nikai told reporters. "That's what I gathered" from a meeting with Abe on Monday morning.

Opposition lawmakers have already stepped up criticism of the prime minister, preparing to portray Abe as a liar in the event he reneges on an earlier promise not to postpone the hike again.

During a Nov. 18, 2014, news conference, Abe said: "There are some who say that we will postpone the October 2015 increase by 18 months and then once those 18 months have passed, we will postpone it yet again. Here, I declare unambiguously to you that there will be no further postponements."

Katsuya Okada, president of the main opposition Democratic Party, said any tax hike deferment would send a clear message that "Abenomics has failed."

Abe has pledged to improve the economy with his Abenomics policy mix — a set of ultraloose monetary policy, aggressive fiscal spending and structural reforms — by next April so that the economy would be strong enough to absorb the impact of the consumption tax hike.

But after three years of Abenomics, the Bank of Japan has yet to achieve its inflation target of 2 percent a year, and consumer confidence remains fragile.

Okada said that delaying the hike by more than two years would be tantamount to Abe abandoning his goal of restoring the country's fiscal health.