PM Takaichi to Give Policy Speech in Upper House Fri.

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan reached a broad agreement on Wednesday to have newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi deliver a policy speech in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, on Friday. The agreement was reached during a meeting of the two parties’ Diet affairs chiefs for the Upper House–Yoshihiko Isozaki of the LDP and Yoshitaka Saito of the CDP. A question-and-answer session on Takaichi’s policy address in the Upper House will be held on Nov. 5-6. The schedule for the speech in the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the chamber’s steering committee Thursday. Diet affairs chiefs of the LDP and the CDP also held a meeting in the Diet on Wednesday to discuss a bill to scrap the provisional gasoline tax surcharge. According to CDP Diet affairs chief Hirofumi Ryu, his LDP counterpart, Hiroshi Kajiyama, proposed that the bill be enacted next month and that the surcharge amount be covered by raising subsidies before the surcharge is fully phased out next February. The two sides agreed to continue talks. Ryu and Kajiyama also discussed Takaichi’s planned policy speech and other issues. Kajiyama later told reporters that a proposal to hold the speech on Friday has received broad approval. The LDP is proposing that a question-and-answer session in the Lower House be held on Nov. 4-5. At a separate meeting of Diet affairs chiefs earlier on Wednesday, Ryu said that the ruling bloc should not ram through a proposal to reduce the number of Lower House seats. Kajiyama responded that he hopes to discuss the matter fully. Meanwhile, Takashi Endo of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), the LDP’s new coalition partner, told reporters that momentum was important. The party is seeking to achieve a reduction in the number of Lower House seats during the ongoing extraordinary Diet session. Earlier on Wednesday, Komeito participated in a meeting of opposition parties’ Diet affairs chiefs for the first time since leaving the ruling coalition with the LDP earlier this month. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]