Japan Upper House Begins Debate on Secondary Capital Bill

Tokyo, July 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, or parliament, began deliberations Wednesday on a bill to establish a secondary capital of the nation that would assume core government functions during major disasters. An outline of the bill was explained at a meeting of a relevant Upper House special committee. Submitted to the Diet by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its ally, the Japan Innovation Party, the bill is the most contentious item remaining in the extended Diet session, which runs through Saturday. The coalition aims to enact the legislation Friday, while opposition parties argue that the bill contains many flaws and have vowed to block its passage. Joint deliberations by the special committee and the Upper House Committee on General Affairs, and hearings with expert witnesses are planned Thursday. The ruling bloc aims to put the bill to a vote at the special committee later that day. But Diet affairs chiefs of six opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, agreed Wednesday to oppose the voting schedule. “It’s not even clear what functions will be given to the secondary capital, so it is not reasonable to vote on the bill,” CDP Diet affairs chief Yoshitaka Saito told reporters. Later, the ruling and opposition sides confirmed at a board meeting of the special committee that they will continue discussions after the expert hearings. As committee deliberations continue, the ruling coalition is courting independent lawmakers in preparation for a vote on the bill at a plenary meeting of the Upper House, where it lacks a majority. The bill cleared the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, last week. At Wednesday’s special committee meeting, LDP lawmaker Kazuo Yana, one of the bill’s sponsors, said it would “also contribute to more geographically dispersed national development in line with regional revitalization efforts.” CDP and Komeito lawmakers requested the ruling side to show a rough estimate on costs of establishing a secondary capital. But a coalition official said only that it depends on which area will be designated as a secondary capital. On Wednesday, the special committee also heard an outline of a counterproposal submitted by the opposition Democratic Party for the People, which calls for establishing “special cities.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]