Opposition to Chair Japan Lower House Budget Committee

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed at a meeting Thursday that the post of Budget Committee chair in the House of Representatives will go to the opposition camp.

The agreement came after the ruling coalition, comprising the LDP and junior partner Komeito, failed to secure a majority in the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, last month.

The post, in charge of managing deliberations on government budget bills and various political issues, had been filled by many LDP veterans.

The opposition chairpersonship of the key committee will make it more difficult for the LDP and the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to steer Diet proceedings, critics pointed out.

At the meeting, LDP Diet affairs chief Tetsushi Sakamoto and his CDP counterpart, Hirofumi Ryu, also agreed to continue to allocate the top post of the Lower House's Rules and Administration Committee to the LDP and to have the special Diet session, set to be convened Monday, run for four days through Nov. 14.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]