TOKYO History was put on hold in Japan on Thursday as intensepolitical maneuvering blocked the scheduled opening of a specialsession of the national parliament that was called to elect a newprime minister.
Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his Cabinet from thelong-dominant Liberal Democratic Party formally resigned Thursdaymorning, but party leaders then blocked the opening of a session thatwill elect the country's first non-Liberal prime minister in 38years.
The seven-party coalition known here as the "Not-LDP" has agreedto elect political maverick Morihiro Hosokawa as the next primeminister. Hosokawa, in turn, is ready to name a Cabinet thatexcludes the Liberal Democrats. But before this historictransformation of power could take place as scheduled, the Liberalsraised a series of objections that prevented the convening of thenational Diet, or parliament.
The move reflects the Liberal Democrats' likely strategy for thenext few months. Political pros say the Liberal Democrats probablywill try to gum up the works in various ways to prevent the newcoalition from achieving anything.
Then, the Liberals Democrats appear to figure, they can go backto the voters and argue that the experiment with a "Not-LDP"government did not work.
Based on Thursday's news coverage, however, it was not clearthat this tactic would benefit the party. Virtually all analystsblamed the delays on the Liberal Democrats and criticized them forunnecessary stalling.
Party leaders from the "Not-LDP" alliance, the LiberalDemocratic party, and the small Communist Party - the only oppositiongroup not to join the coalition - continued to negotiate lateThursday, and there was a chance that the Diet session could open forbusiness today.
There were no signs of defection from the coalition, so itseems certain that a new Hosokawa Cabinet eventually will beinstalled.
But when that will occur remains the question. The Diet votecould take place as early as today, or it could be delayed until nextweek.
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