DPJ sees long-term coalition: Ozawa

KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. (Kyodo) Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa has indicated his party will seek to maintain the coalition framework with two smaller parties even if it wins a simple majority in next summer's Upper House election.

"It cannot be said we have a truly stable government, and we know we have to secure a simple majority in both the Lower House and the Upper House," Ozawa said in a speech Monday. "But that does not mean I'm denying (maintaining) the coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the Kokumin Shinto."

"We have been working together and will continue working together in the future. There is no change to that," said Ozawa, the DPJ's strategist for the Upper House election.

The DPJ, headed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party after winning 308 seats in the 480-seat Lower House in the Aug. 30 election. But the party formed a coalition government with the SDP and Kokumin Shinto to ensure smooth passage of bills in the less powerful Upper House, over which the DPJ does not have sole control.