The government plans to convene parliament for this year’s ordinary session starting Jan. 24, it was learned Thursday.
The plan was conveyed by Junichi Ishii, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Diet affairs chief in the House of Councilors, to his counterpart from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshitaka Saito, at their meeting the same day.
The first day of the ordinary session, which will run for 150 days until June 22, will feature the government’s four key speeches, including a policy address by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Question-and-answer sessions are expected to follow on Jan. 27 to 29.
On Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi will formally present the plan at executive meetings of both Diet chambers’ steering committees.
The government is expected to submit 59 bills during the ordinary session, including legislation to introduce active cyber defense, or preemptive action to prevent cyberattacks, Ishii said at the meeting with Saito.
Meanwhile, the LDP and CDP officials agreed to hold another hearing of the Upper House’s political ethics panel on Jan. 20 on a political funds scandal involving LDP factions. The hearing will be attended by two lawmakers who belonged to a faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
