Takaichi Still Wants Budget to Pass through Diet before FY 2026

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed her ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday to expedite deliberations at the upcoming special session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, so the government’s initial budget for fiscal 2026 can pass through the Diet before the current fiscal year ends next month. Meeting with Hiroshi Kajiyama, the LDP’s Diet affairs chief, and other senior party members at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Takaichi said, “I have not given up on the budget’s passage within the fiscal year.” Takaichi’s instruction comes as parliamentary debates on the initial budget are starting about a month later than usual due to her abrupt breakup of the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, for a snap election. Most of LDP members think it impossible to enact the full budget by March 31. But the party is considering to shorten budget-related deliberations by cutting the time allocated for questions from lawmakers in the ruling coalition to meet Takaichi’s demand for the budget’s “soonest possible passage.” Expecting a strong backlash from the opposition camp, a senior LDP member said whether the measure is taken “depends on negotiations with opposition parties.” The government, for its part, is preparing to compile an interim budget for the new year. Also on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara officially told each parliamentary group within the Diet that the special session starts on Wednesday. Takaichi is expected to launch her second cabinet after being reelected prime minister on the first day of the session. During the 150-day proceedings through July 17, the prime, finance, foreign and economic ministers are set to deliver policy speeches on Feb. 20. Party leaders’ questioning in the wake of the speeches is likely to begin on Feb. 24. Following its landslide victory in Sunday’s Lower House election, the LDP initially planned to have the ruling coalition dominate the chair posts of all standing and special committees as well as key councils. However, the party made a compromise by proposing to allocate the chair posts of one standing committee and one special committee to the opposition bloc in negotiations with parliamentary groups in the Lower House. But talks on the matter will continue, as the main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance is seeking further concessions. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]