Japan PM's Presence at Diet Deliberations Drops Sharply

Tokyo, July 26 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spent significantly less time attending intensive deliberations of the budget committees of both chambers of the Diet, the country's parliament, than her recent predecessors during the latest special Diet session that ended Saturday.

She has earned a reputation for avoiding Diet deliberations not only by opposition parties but also by members of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party.

During the just-ended Diet session, which lasted as long as an ordinary Diet session in a typical year, all 64 government-sponsored bills were enacted, including a bill to revise the Imperial House Law and another to establish a national intelligence council, both of which were strongly backed by Takaichi.

A focused session of deliberations by the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, that had been scheduled for Friday will instead be held on Monday as a meeting during a Diet recess.

Takaichi reiterated in Diet debates and other settings that she would attend the Diet and answer questions whenever requested. However, some within the LDP are skeptical, with one party executive saying, "No one takes those words at face value."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]