Japan's major parties agree to hold general election after passage of sales tax bill

TOKYO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Wednesday that his ruling party and two major opposition parties agreed to hold a general election soon after the parliament passes sales tax hike bills.

The agreement was reached between Noda, who currently serves as president of the Democratic Party of Japan, and the leaders of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito party during their meeting late Wednesday night.

The Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party have been piling pressure on Noda to clearly state he would dissolve the lower house for a general election in exchange for gaining their support for parliamentary passage of the bill.

The tax bills, if passed, will double the sales tax rate to 10 percent by 2015 to tackle the nation's swelling social security costs. Enditem