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In January 1999, it formed a coalition with the ruling LDP under Keizō Obuchi. Takeshi Noda as Minister for Home Affairs became its only member in the realigned Obuchi cabinet, later replaced by Toshihiro Nikai as Minister of Transportation. Later that year, the New Kōmeitō joined the coalition as well, and party president Ichirō Ozawa decided to lead the Liberal Party back into the opposition as he saw his party's position endangered. However, some members of the coalition wanted to stay in the government and eventually formed the breakaway New Conservative Party.