It looks like 2000 will be a year of politics in the world and in Japan as well. In the United States and Russia, there will be presidential elections; in Japan, the Lower House will be dissolved for a snap election before its sitting members complete their four-year terms in October.
It is up to Japanese voters to decide whether the administration of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi should continue to rule Japan and whether the present coalition rule should continue. Voter judgment will have an important influence on Japan's course in the 21st century.
Political pundits have failed to make definite predictions on the timing of the inevitable Lower House dissolution.