THE new opposition party Shinshinto (New Frontier Party) does not immediately threaten the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, since it is not as large as originally expected.
But the future of the Murayama Government is far from assured in the wake of Shinshinto's formation simply because no single political party comes close to having a parliamentary majority in its own right. Additionally, there is unrest in the Socialist party which could topple the present coalition Government.
These conclusions emerge from the latest headcount of party loyalties in the Japanese Diet in the wake of nine smaller parties or factions ostensibly sinking their differences under the Shinshinto banner.
Shinshinto, inaugurated last Saturday amidst much fanfare, is smaller than expected, holding 179 seats in the lower House of Representatives. Earlier it was expected to attract at least 190 lower house members, a figure closer to the 200 members belonging to the largest single parliamentary party, that of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
In the House of Representatives, Shinshinto is the second largest party, being more than twice the size of Mr Murayama's Socialist Party which has 72 seats.
But in the upper House of Councillors the Socialists are almost double the size of Shinshinto, holding 68 seats to the new party's 36. The LDP has 95 upper house seats.
Shinshinto's upper house weakness is a result of a split in the former Clean Government Party, or Komeito.