TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio Kishida faces tough time constraints at the Diet after a delay in the passage of a political funds bill through the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.

The House of Councillors, the upper chamber, on Friday began deliberations on the bill to revise the political funds control law, drawn up in response to a slush fund scandal at Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties, criticizing the LDP’s bill as flawed, are gearing up to grill his administration in Upper House deliberations, bearing in mind the possibility of submitting a non-confidence resolution against the cabinet.

The bill cleared the Lower House on Thursday, two days later than the LDP had expected, due to prolonged negotiations to amend the legislation with its coalition partner, Komeito, and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party).

While the current Diet session is set to close on June 23, debates on more than 10 government-sponsored bills have not been completed. The Upper House’s deliberation schedule is very tight.

“There are only 10 days left for deliberations” on weekdays, Junichi Ishii, the LDP’s Diet affairs leader at the Upper House, told a party meeting Friday. “We’ll unite so that the House of Councillors will fulfill its responsibilities.”

The LDP revised its bill repeatedly to accommodate requests from Komeito and Nippon Ishin, causing the delay in the Lower House passage.

At the Upper House, the Political Reform Special Committee will start debates on the bill Monday. The ruling coalition is planning to question witnesses Friday and hold a question and answer meeting attended by Kishida on June 18 before the bill is put to a vote at the committee.

The bill is expected to be passed into law at an Upper House plenary meeting June 19.

However, CDP President IZUMI Kenta told a press conference Friday that the main opposition will continue asking for an additional revision of the bill.

YAMAZOE Taku, policy leader of the Japanese Communist Party, agreed, saying, “The proposed ban on political donations from companies and organizations, a crucial point, is missing (from the bill).”

In the Upper House, deliberations on other important bills remain, including one to revise the local autonomy law to enable the central government to give instructions to local governments in times of emergency.

Other such measures include a bill to revise the immigration control and refugee recognition law to establish a system to train foreign workers that will replace the current technical intern training program and a bill to create a Japanese version of Britain’s Disclosure and Barring Service to check whether people seeking jobs that involve contact with children have sex crime records.

Kishida, apparently out of concern about political risks, has decided not to extend the Diet session beyond the current adjournment date.

The CDP, for its part, has warned of a major action that may be taken toward the June 23 end of the session, hinting its readiness to submit a no-confidence motion against the cabinet.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway to hold a party leader debate at the Diet on June 19 in which the prime minister faces opposition leaders to answer their questions. It will be the first such debate since Kishida took office as prime minister in October 2021.

Within the LDP, discontent is brewing over Kishida’s decisions to accommodate the requests of Komeito and Nippon Ishin to amend the LDP’s bill. An LDP executive warned that the Diet schedule would need to be changed once something happens.

JIJI Press