TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura held talks on July 7 as Diet deliberations remained stalled over opposition resistance to two bills Ishin is seeking to pass, including legislation to cut the number of lawmakers and a bill to establish a secondary capital.
Yoshimura met Takaichi inside the Diet building shortly after 6 p.m. as the ruling bloc faced a deepening standoff with opposition parties over how to proceed with the current parliamentary session.
Ishin is aiming to enact both the secondary capital bill and the bill to reduce the number of Diet seats during the current session. Opposition parties agreed again on the morning of July 7 to demand that the ruling side withdraw the two bills, leaving the two camps in direct confrontation.
Deliberations in the House of Representatives remain suspended.
Speaking to reporters after the party leaders' meeting, Takaichi said she had exchanged views with Yoshimura in her capacity as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, but declined to discuss the details.
"If there is a request for me to attend the Diet, I have attended and answered questions sincerely, and that policy will not change," Takaichi said. "As for the Diet session period, there was no particular discussion about the session period."
Yoshimura criticized the opposition's refusal to participate in deliberations, saying he believed it was wrong.
"We discussed today how the Diet should move forward from tomorrow, including the way to proceed," Yoshimura said. "We want the Diet affairs chiefs to hold thorough discussions and move things forward."
Asked whether Ishin would withdraw the bills, Yoshimura said there was no such plan.
"At this point, of course, they are not something we will withdraw," he said. "I believe cutting the number of lawmakers is the central pillar of reform, and it is something we must see through. That view has not changed."
Source: KTV NEWS
