LDP, DPFP Agree to Hold Policy Talks

Tokyo, Oct. 31 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party for the People agreed Thursday to hold policy talks, which will also involve Komeito, the LDP's junior coalition partner, and to hold a meeting of their leaders as early as Nov. 9.

The agreement was reached at a meeting of secretaries-general and parliamentary affairs chiefs from the LDP and the DPFP.

The LDP, which suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday's general election, hopes to win the support of the DPFP, which advanced in the election, for the passage of a fiscal 2024 supplementary budget by the end of this year by having the government's upcoming economic policy package reflect some of the DPFP's policies to increase people's take-home pay.

The government plans to draw up the policy package, which will be financed by the extra budget, as early as mid-November.

Following the House of Representatives election, the Diet will vote to elect a new prime minister at a special session slated to start on Nov. 11. After the LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the Lower House, the Diet vote is expected to go to a runoff between current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, head of the LDP, and Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]