|
On January 24, the DPJ Caucus in the House of Representatives held a meeting prior to the convening of the 177th ordinary session of the Diet, which was scheduled to begin that same day. The assembled Diet members confirmed their intention of uniting to overcome the difficulties faced by the party, and to make every effort to ensure that a variety of legislation scheduled to be submitted to the Diet during the session, starting with the budget for fiscal 2011, are passed.
DPJ Diet Affairs Committee Chair Jun Azumi addressed the meeting, saying, “For this Diet session, there are 64 pieces of legislation and 19 pieces of business carried over from the previous session, so if we include treaties that means there are 101 pieces of legislation to be dealt with during the next 150 days. It looks like being an extremely tough Diet, but it is passing legislation above all that will lead to the recovery of our party’s influence.” He also referred to the Committee on Budget, commenting, “I would like us, by April, to pass the budget, enact the related legislation in a satisfactory form, and ensure that the various local authorities and administrative bodies of central government implement them without delay.”
Following this, Secretary General Katsuya Okada spoke, saying, “This Diet will be extremely tough, but if we can ensure that the budget and related legislation are passed within this financial year, this will have an enormous impact on the lives of the Japanese people. We must show our mettle as Diet members belonging to the ruling party, and must unite firmly and do our utmost.” Okada added, “Prime Minister Kan has clearly set forth the matters that must be tackled by the Cabinet. I would like us all to support him in these goals and ride out this difficult Diet session.”
|
