Japan LDP Wants to Prioritize Imperial Family Bill

Tokyo, July 2 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to prioritize the proposed revision of the Imperial House Law in parliamentary debates, Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday in an effort to normalize parliamentary affairs. The LDP is ready to accept a halt to debates on bills to reduce seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, and establish a second Japanese capital, while the discussions on the revision are underway, Suzuki said at a meeting of the secretaries-general and Diet affairs heads of the LDP and the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance. The two parties will continue discussing the issue between their Diet affairs leaders. At Thursday’s meeting, the CRA’s Takeshi Shina showed concern that a calm environment, considered a prerequisite for Diet debates on the Imperial House Law revision, cannot be secured as long as the ruling camp keeps trying to enact other bills, including the one on the Lower House seat cut. Suzuki did not respond to this remark. According to Shina, Suzuki said that the LDP will make efforts as a ruling party to meet opposition requests for intensive deliberations at the budget committees of both Diet chambers and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s direct debates with other party leaders. Later Thursday, the Diet affairs leaders of five opposition parties, including the CRA, had a meeting and confirmed that the five will urge the LDP-led ruling camp to give up the idea of enacting the Lower House seat reduction and second capital bills. Meanwhile, the Audit Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, decided to hold a question-and-answer session to be attended by Takaichi. In the Diet, the ruling bloc, which includes the Japan Innovation Party, started Lower House deliberations on the seat reduction and second capital bills without obtaining agreement from opposition parties. This has led the opposition side to boycott plenary and committee meetings. To end the impasse, Lower House Speaker Eisuke Mori urged the ruling and opposition sides to normalize parliamentary business. Both Diet chambers decided not to hold deliberations on bills on Thursday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]