Ruling-Opposition Battles Enter Endgame amid Tight Schedule

Tokyo, July 12 (Jiji Press)--With the current session of the Diet in its final stretch, ruling-opposition battles are entering the endgame amid a very tight schedule.

The session is scheduled to end on Friday but may be extended slightly if deliberations are delayed on pending bills, including a bill to establish a secondary capital in the country, a priority for the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

During a television program on Sunday, Yoshihiko Isozaki, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary affairs chief in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, said, "We'll make every effort to enact all remaining bills." He added that the ruling bloc is not currently considering extending the session.

However, Yoshitaka Saito, the Diet affairs chief of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, stressed, "We have no intention of holding quick deliberations to meet the session deadline."

The session had been in a stalemate until the ruling bloc promised on Wednesday to hold a debate among party leaders and Budget Committee meetings in both Diet chambers with Takaichi in attendance, as well as abandoned the passage during the session of a bill to reduce the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]