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Ruling coalition plans to extend Diet session
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With a backlog of important legislation still facing the Upper House, the government and ruling coalition have decided to extend the current Diet session beyond its scheduled June 23 end, sources said.
The move could push back the date of the upcoming Upper House election.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to pass a bill to reform the civil servant system and create an amakudari alternative to help retiring central government bureaucrats find new jobs.
However, that bill needs more debate before it can be voted on in the Upper House, and hence the Diet extension, sources said. The main question is how long of an extension is required.
The Upper House election has long been expected to be held July 22. If that still holds, the extension could only be for five days without conflicting with campaigning's start.
However, some ruling Liberal Democratic Party officials are considering pushing back the Upper House election to July 29, allowing a Diet extension of 12 days. Another reason LDP officials would like to hold off the election date is to cool public ire over the smoldering pension issue.
In recent weeks, reports of millions of pension accounts having no rightful beneficiary identified have fueled public anger at the slipshod manner in which the Social Insurance Agency has handled the pension system.
Abe met with Mikio Aoki, LDP Upper House caucus leader, and Toranosuke Katayama, LDP Upper House secretary-general, Friday night to map out Diet scheduling.
On a Sunday TV program, Katayama was asked whether the civil servant bill would pass in the current session.
"If (the opposition) should submit a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet, Diet deliberations would stall," Katayama said. "It would be impossible (to pass the bill)."
Katayama also added that the July 22 date for an Upper House election was never set in stone, hinting at flexibility on a Diet extension.
A final decision will likely emerge this week, after gauging the pace of debate over the civil servant system reform bill and a possible non-confidence vote against the Cabinet.(IHT/Asahi: June 18,2007)
Source: Asahi.comAll rights reserved.