EXCLUSIVE: Diet to Be Convened for Extra Session from Oct. 24

October 18, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government unveiled a plan on Wednesday to convene the Diet, the country's parliament, for an extraordinary session from Oct. 24, aiming to get a fiscal 2018 supplementary budget enacted soon to promote restoration and reconstruction measures following recent major natural disasters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga presented the plan at board meetings of both Diet chambers' steering committees.

The government and the ruling coalition are considering setting aside 48 days until Dec. 10 for the Diet session, informed sources told Jiji Press.

Suga also notified the Diet that the government will submit the extra budget on the first day of the forthcoming session.

The government and the ruling bloc aim to get the budget through the Diet in early November and then move onto a bill to revise the immigration control law to expand arrivals of foreign workers.

Opposition parties are poised to grill the government on the planned October 2019 consumption tax hike, which was reconfirmed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday.

Meanwhile, Abe appears eager to spur discussions on constitutional reform during the extra session, based on a draft amendment from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Jiji Press