LEAD: Accord on forming coalition gov't to be carried over to next week+

TOKYO, Sept. 3 Kyodo - The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party of Japan and two smaller parties continued to discuss a coalition plan on their second day of policy consultations Thursday, and will carry over an agreement on forming a coalition government to next week.

The DPJ, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, however, did
agree to add a measure to counter unemployment to a draft coalition plan based
on their common campaign platform, which was compiled before Sunday's general
election, participants said.
Since Wednesday, the three parties have been negotiating the terms of a
coalition agreement, with foreign policy and security issues remaining a major
sticking point.
Masayuki Naoshima, chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Council, had said the
parties hoped to seal a deal by the end of this week. The next meeting will
take place early next week, possibly on Tuesday, the participants said.
Despite capturing nearly two-thirds of seats in the House of Representatives,
the DPJ hopes to form a coalition government with the other two because it
needs their cooperation to control the less powerful upper house -- which is
deemed essential in running a stable government.
The three parties plan to hold a secretary-general-level meeting within the
next few days to discuss additional issues, including the SDP's proposal to
create a policy coordination body among the coalition parties, officials of the
parties said.
It is not clear whether the issues can be easily settled, however, given the
differences between the DPJ and the SDP.
One participant in Thursday's meeting said that although an agreement will be
carried over to next week, the parties do not plan to spend very long on the
talks.
Naoshima and his counterparts from the other two parties had already largely
agreed to the draft coalition plan, to which they agreed to add measures
against swine flu and anti-disaster measures, among other things, during
Wednesday's meeting.
The major sticking point is apparently fourfold: the Maritime Self-Defense
Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led
antiterrorism efforts in and around Afghanistan, a bilateral accord governing
the status of U.S. military personnel in Japan, the realignment of U.S. forces
in Japan, and the MSDF antipiracy mission off the coast of Somalia.
The DPJ has said it plans to let the refueling mission continue until a
temporary law backing it expires in January. As to the Japan-U.S. status of
forces agreement, the party has promised in its campaign platform to propose
the accord's revision.
Also in the platform, the party said it will ''move in the direction'' of
reexamining the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and the role U.S. military
bases play in the country.
The party has said it will continue the antipiracy mission off Somalia.
In contrast, the SDP has taken a stricter stance on these issues, demanding the
MSDF's immediate withdrawal from the Indian Ocean and a complete revision of
the status of forces accord.
On the U.S. base realignment issue, it has advocated renegotiating with the
United States over the matter, while calling for the MSDF's withdrawal from the
antipiracy mission.
In Sunday's election, the DPJ won a whopping 308 seats in the 480-seat lower
house, wresting power from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The SDP maintained its seven-seat presence, while the People's New Party won
three seats, compared with four it held before the election.
A special parliamentary session is expected to be called on Sept. 16, when DPJ
President Yukio Hatoyama will be sworn in as new prime minister.
==Kyodo
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