Extra Diet session moved up to Oct. 1 to discuss budget+

TOKYO, Sept. 22 Kyodo -
The Japanese parliament moved the start of an extraordinary session five days
forward to Oct. 1, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's Diet affairs chief
said Wednesday, in a move expected to give sufficient time for deliberations,
especially on the extra budget.
Yoshio Hachiro told a press conference in the Diet building that the schedule
had been decided. The session will be the first of its kind after Friday's
reshuffle of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet, with the premier aiming to
secure approval for an extra budget for fiscal 2010.
Katsuya Okada, DPJ secretary general, said the front-loading of the Diet
schedule comes from what the DPJ saw as the need to allot more time for
deliberation and calls from opposition parties to convene earlier.
The government and ruling parties are gearing up for a tough battle as they
face a ''divided Diet,'' where the opposition parties control the upper house
and the ruling parties control the lower house.
On how to deal with the situation, Okada said at a news conference at the DPJ
headquarters, ''It really all comes down to saying that we will talk with
opposition parties in all sincerity.''
Noting that the ruling parties have lost their majority in the upper house,
Okada said, ''We need to have the budget and bills passed by gaining the
support of the opposition parties.''
A thorough dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties is ''extremely
important in protecting the lives of the public and national interests,'' he
said, seeking the cooperation of the opposition bloc.
Hachiro informed the opposition Liberal Democratic Party after basically
agreeing on the Diet schedule Wednesday morning with Mikio Shimoji, secretary
general of the People's New Party, a junior coalition partner of the DPJ.
He told Ichiro Aisawa, chairman of the LDP Diet affairs committee, about the
change, which Aisawa welcomed.
The extra Diet session, set to last for about two months, comes before the
government formulates a budget for fiscal 2011 at the end of the year.
As a result of the extra Diet session, arrangements are now being made to
cancel the premier's attendance at the Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Brussels
slated for Oct. 4-5, Hachiro said.
Kan plans to give his policy speech on Oct. 1, and there will be
interpellations from Oct. 4-6 in both the House of Representatives and the
House of Councillors. The DPJ also intends to convene a budget committee from
Oct. 12-13.
Kan has called for talks on an extra budget with opposition parties ahead of
the forthcoming Diet session. But LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki said the time is
not ripe for such a meeting and the matter could be discussed in the Diet.
In addition to the extra budget, which is needed to finance additional stimulus
measures, the ruling coalition is eyeing resubmitting to the Diet and passing a
postal reform bill, which is being pushed by the PNP.
==Kyodo
2010-09-22 19:35:25