video transcript

It's a breakthrough deal for Yoshihiko Noda that ends months of political deadlock, but also one that could split his Democratic Party. Japan's lower house of parliament approved a doubling of the country's sales tax, to help curb the nation's snowballing debt. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA SAYING: "We must give a great deal of thought to the future generation, and if we do not take the first step towards reform now then I believe that it will indeed be too late. There is no time to waste. We must take responsibility and push these reforms through." The approval comes after a deal was reached between the ruling bloc and the opposition. But the compromise could splinter Prime Minister Noda's party, with 57 of the 96 no votes coming from Democratic Party lawmakers. If 54 or more leave the party, the Democrats will lose their majority in the powerful lower house. This raises the prospect of an early election, well before the chamber's term ends in the summer of 2013. Sophia University Professor Koichi Nakano expects Noda to lose his job, but will achieve what his predecessors could not. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOPHIA UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, KOICHI NAKANO, SAYING: "After he is forced out, well maybe the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) is torn apart, maybe it won't exist any more in the way we know it. But it's something that he probably doesn't really care all about much, because his mission as Prime Minister will be accomplished then." The plan to double the tax to 10 percent by 2015 is expected to clear the opposition-controlled upper house. Arnold Gay Reuters