An agreement was effectively reached Tuesday between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan to vote on proposed amendments to the national referendum law during the ordinary Diet session that will convene in January.
The vote will not take place in the current session. The LDP hopes to enact the amendment as soon as possible in the upcoming ordinary Diet session and begin full-fledged discussions on revising the Constitution.
The agreement was reached at a meeting between the parties' secretaries general and the chairpersons of their respective Diet affairs committees.
"We want to agree to reach a conclusion of some sort on the proposed amendment at the ordinary Diet session. We hope to reach a conclusion as soon as possible," LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai said at the meeting, and his CDPJ counterpart Tetsuro Fukuyama reportedly agreed.
"To reach a conclusion means to vote on the amendment," Hiroshi Moriyama, chairperson of the LDP's Diet affairs committee, told reporters after the meeting.
The bill to amend the national referendum law includes such revisions as allowing the establishment of polling stations in commercial facilities when holding a referendum on constitutional revision, making it easier to vote. The LDP, Komeito, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) and other parties proposed this in June 2018, but the CDPJ, Communist Party and others have been against it. This resulted in the bill being on the agenda at seven consecutive Diet sessions without a deliberation actually being held.
The ruling parties initially aimed to pass the bill in the current Diet session, and reached the point where the House of Representatives Commission on the Constitution held its first substantive discussions on the matter on Nov. 26.
However, the current session ends on Dec. 5, making passage of the bill difficult in terms of scheduling.
Some senior members of the LDP welcomed the agreement with the CDPJ, with one saying, "This agreement is a big step forward for discussions on constitutional amendments."
There is deep-rooted opposition in the CDPJ and other parties to amending the national referendum law, because approval of the bill would leave no alternative but to begin discussions on constitutional amendment. However, a senior member of CDPJ said, "Postponing the vote any further will not gain the understanding of the people and will be difficult."
As Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People are positive about constitutional discussion, there was a fear that the opposition camp would be divided by the ruling camps.
Separately, Fukuyama asked for an extension of the current session until the end of the year. He also called for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be summoned as a sworn witness to the Diet, to be asked about parties organized by an association of his supporters on the eve of cherry blossom-viewing events that he hosted as prime minister.
These requests are expected to be discussed further between the chairpersons of the Diet affairs committees, but the ruling parties plan not to accept them.
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