Submission of local suffrage bill to end 3-party coalition

TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo -
The tripartite ruling coalition will break up if the government submits a bill
to the Diet to grant foreign permanent residents the right to vote in local
elections, financial services minister Shizuka Kamei said Wednesday.
The remarks by Kamei, also heads of the People's New Party, were made at the
House of Councillors Budget Committee.
While Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama supports granting local suffrage to
permanent foreign residents, Kamei has shown strong opposition to the proposal.
The PNP is part of the ruling coalition with Hatoyama's Democratic Party of
Japan and the Social Democratic Party.
==Kyodo