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On February 4, the secretaries general (or equivalent) and Diet affairs chiefs of eight opposition parties (the DPJ, Japan Restoration Party, Your Party, Yui no to, the Japan Communist Party, the People’s Life Party, the SDP, and the New Renaissance Party) met at a Tokyo venue to discuss matters relating to the current Diet session, and confirmed that they would cooperate with each other wherever possible.
Following the meeting, DPJ Secretary Akihiro Ohata spoke to reporters and informed them that the following had been agreed: (1) to call on the ruling parties to engage in a thorough, careful and quality discussions in the Diet, (2) to engage in cooperation with other opposition parties where their policies were in agreement, and (3) to continue to hold similar meetings and join forces as opposition parties. He expressed the opinion that in the meeting of Diet affairs chiefs of the eight parties to be held February 6, discussions would focus on the actual procedures to be followed in implementing the measures that had been discussed.
Ohata also revealed that during the meeting, one issue that had received attention was the need to be active in submitting bills sponsored by individual Diet members. He stated that it had been agreed that the opposition would unite and call on the ruling parties to shift from what has been a Diet dominated by Cabinet-sponsored bill to one in which bills sponsored by Diet members are thoroughly debated. One example would be undertaking discussion of such privately-sponsored legislation during current session of the Committee on Budget in the House of Councillors.
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