Japan Ruling LDP’s Suzuki Negative on Diet Extension

Sapporo, June 21 (Jiji Press)–Shunichi Suzuki, secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Sunday expressed a negative view on extending the current session of the Diet, the country’s parliament, now set to end on July 17. Speaking at a convention of the party’s Hokkaido prefectural chapter in Sapporo, northern Japan, he stressed, “We want to move forward on various issues within the current Diet session without extending it.” On a bill to revise the Imperial House Law, which includes measures to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members, Suzuki said that related efforts must be completed during this Diet session. Regarding other agreed items of the coalition pact between the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party, Suzuki said, “They must be steadily implemented.” The remarks came after Hiroshi Nakatsuka, secretary-general of the JIP, called for an extension of the Diet session in talks with Suzuki on Monday in order to enact key bills including one to reduce the number of House of Representatives seats, which is among the policy goals included in the coalition pact. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]