ID :
207598
Fri, 09/16/2011 - 18:01
Auther :

Diet OKs extending session as ruling party yields to opposition

TOKYO, Sept. 16 Kyodo -
The House of Representatives decided Friday to extend the ongoing extraordinary Diet session by 14 days through the end of September, a move that will allow for further discussion of the policies of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's new government.
The decision followed a deal struck by the Democratic Party of Japan with the two main opposition parties, under which the DPJ yielded to their demand for an extension to avoid repercussions on deliberations over the planned third extra budget for fiscal 2011.
However, the behind-closed-doors move embarrassed some DPJ executives who were left out of the process, possibly boding ill for Noda's efforts to bolster party unity about two weeks after the launch of his new party leadership.
Securing the support of the opposition camp in passing the third extra budget is crucial given the opposition camp's dominance of the upper house, which allows it to block passage of key legislation. The lower house is controlled by the ruling parties.
Noda pledged during a parliamentary session that the budget plan, designed to fully finance reconstruction following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, would be submitted to the Diet at an early date. He did not elaborate when that would be.
DPJ Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi called on the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party to hold talks over the third extra budget, and the LDP and New Komeito are expected to agree, lawmakers said.
Koshiishi's counterpart in New Komeito, Yoshihisa Inoue, told reporters he welcomed the extension as a ''first step'' to create a relationship based on trust between the opposition and ruling camps.
The ruling party had decided to end the current parliamentary session on Friday after only four days, and pushed the schedule through the legislature when it convened Tuesday, arguing that the government needed to place priority on preparing the draft of the third supplementary budget.
But the opposition bloc called for a longer session to allow budget committee sessions to be held in both chambers of parliament for full-fledged discussions on government policies.
After days of wrangling, Koshiishi proposed during talks Friday morning with his opposition counterparts to extend the session until Sept. 30.
The ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold the lower house budget committee sessions from Sept. 26 to 27, lawmakers said. Upper house budget committee sessions are expected to be held Sept. 28 and 29.
Still, the abrupt change in Koshiishi's policy, apparently determined by Noda, has irked some DPJ executives, who had not been told anything about it, some lawmakers said.
Three executives of the DPJ, including deputy Diet affairs chief Takeaki Matsumoto, tendered their resignations Friday to Diet affairs chief Hirofumi Hirano, saying they would like to take responsibility for having caused confusion between the ruling and opposition parties.

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