The extraordinary parliamentary session convened in Tokyo on October 5, with the government poised to prioritize the passage of bills related to the planned consumption tax cuts for food and beverages.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae said in her policy speech that she wishes to create financial breathing room for households, while explaining that funding will be secured without relying on special deficit-financing bonds in order to maintain market trust.

But as the ruling coalition remains a minority in the Senate, Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will have to gain cooperation from the opposition in the upper house to pass these bills.

This will be the first Diet session after Takaichi reshuffled her Cabinet in September and is scheduled to run for 69 days until December 12.

Opposition parties have set their sights on grilling the government over reported remarks by new Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yana Kazuo that budget cuts were made to certain local governments according to his wishes.

After the Cabinet meeting on October 5, Yana remained at the Prime Minister’s Office for a while, likely having a conversation with Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru.

Yana left the Prime Minister’s Office without responding to questions from reporters.

The opposition is preparing to demand explanations, including Yana’s qualifications as a Cabinet minister.

S/ Tamaki Yuichiro, Leader, Democratic Party for the People / If budget allocations were distorted without objective or rational reasons, that is a problem. Since it is an issue that should be properly investigated to see if there are other similar cases, we will demand a full investigation across all ministries.

Another key topic is a bill to reduce the number of seats in the House of Representatives.

On the opposition side, attention is on how three parties involved in a failed merger will align their steps to confront the government and ruling coalition.

The three are the Democratic Reform Party, Komeito and the Constitutional Democratic Party.