Tokyo : With less than two weeks before the scheduled end of parliament, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is racing to get as much legislation as possible passed before the summer recess, even as it faces questions about whether to extend the session to allow more time for debate.
But with the opposition parties remaining firmly against two highly controversial bills — one reducing the number of parliamentary seats and the other establishing a secondary capital — the prime minister is caught between honoring a promise to the Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition partner and the reality that the ruling coalition lacks an Upper House majority to pass the bills in that chamber.
The Japan Innovation Party (JIP, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai) agreed to join the LDP in a coalition last October in exchange for passage of the two bills, and is demanding that Takaichi make good on her promise by the current parliamentary session, scheduled to end on July 17.
If not, the party said it is ready to take parliament into overtime.
“If we can’t wrap things up in time, I’d like for parliament to be extended,” JIP Secretary General Hiroshi Nakatsuka told reporters Monday.
The seat-reduction bill, if passed, would eliminate 45 of the 176 proportional representation seats from the 465-seat Lower House. The smaller opposition parties have a large number of proportional seats and are opposed to the measure, as they would be severely impacted by its implementation.
The JIP is also pushing a bill that would establish the concept of a backup capital in case of a national emergency, such as a natural disaster. The Osaka-centric JIP is especially keen to have the bill passed in the hope of raising Osaka’s chances of eventually being designated the nation’s secondary capital, as well as to become the nation’s second major economic engine after Tokyo.
But the complexity of establishing the requirements for a secondary capital, and where it should be located, remains politically problematic.
Other regions outside the JIP’s Osaka base are also interested in hosting at least some functions of a secondary capital, including the cities of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu, which are proposing to collaborate as the Fukuoka Prefecture region rather than as individual candidates.
Takaichi must not only deal with the demands of the JIP over these bills, which some in her party are also skeptical of, but also debate opposition party leaders in the Upper House, where Takaichi is likely to face tough questions from opposition parties about both bills as well as others, including a bill to revise the Imperial House Law to secure sufficient numbers of imperial family members.
Takaichi’s government adopted the bill last month but wants it debated and passed in the current session. However, the bill includes a provision that the sons of imperial family adoptees will be eligible to succeed to the throne, which has been criticized by some of the opposition parties as placing the emphasis on maintaining succession only through male heirs in the patrilineal line.
However, that bill took a step closer to realization Tuesday, after the LDP, the JIP and the Democratic Party for the People agreed to make it a legislative priority. The three parties’ approval would give the bill a needed Upper House majority.
Though the prime minister has given no indication of what she’ll do if time for debate in the current session runs out, one option would be to extend parliament past July 17 to allow for sufficient time for debate and pass as many of the 17 remaining bills in both houses of parliament.
That may likely require politically tough compromises with the JIP and the opposition parties in the Upper House in order to secure the majority needed to pass the bills into law. However, the Constitution also gives Takaichi the right to invoke the 60-day rule, in which bills not voted on by the Upper House within 60 days of being received are automatically considered rejected and returned to the more powerful Lower House.
If that chamber then passes the bill by a two-thirds majority, which the LDP has, the bill becomes law.
