Japan Ruling Camp Postpones Voting on TPP-Related Bill

June 26, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, gave up holding a vote on Tuesday by the House of Councillors Cabinet Committee on a bill needed to implement a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Although the ruling camp initially planned to put the bill to a vote at the day's meeting of the Upper House committee, it decided to avoid deepening its confrontation with opposition parties, taking account of possible impacts on other key bills, including one to introduce integrated resorts featuring casinos in Japan.

Meanwhile, the ruling camp is sticking to its plan to have a vote on Tuesday on work-style reform legislation, which the government regards as the most important bill in the current parliamentary session, by the Upper House Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.

As the opposition camp is seeking more thorough deliberations on this bill, the negotiations between the two forces are expected to see rough going.

Regarding the revised TPP, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Cabinet Committee, "It'll offer great chances for Japanese farmers and small companies."

The free trade pact, officially called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, was signed by 11 countries in March after the United States withdrew from the original deal last year.

A bill to ratify the CPTPP was approved by Japan's parliament earlier this month.

Abe also commented on the work-style reform legislation when he attended the labor committee's meeting.

"Correcting long working hours will make it easier for women and elderly people to enter the labor force and help men to participate more in child-rearing," the prime minister said. Jiji Press