Diet Reform: Can Ruling, Opposition Parties Keep to Their Agreement This Time?

Editorial

15:45 JST, April 18, 2025

The free trade system is on the verge of collapse. The war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East show no signs of ending, and the security environment surrounding Japan also is deteriorating.

In light of the situation, which can be described as a national crisis, it is important for the leaders of political parties to discuss Japan’s course and national image from a broader perspective. The ruling and opposition parties should be aware of the aim in Diet reform and implement their agreement without fail.

The House of Representatives’ council on Diet reform has compiled a reform proposal that focuses on holding debates between the prime minister and party leaders each month from April through June. The council plans to consider extending the debate time, which is now usually 45 minutes starting at 3 p.m., and reviewing the running of the debates, with possible changes to include holding them at night.

The debate system was formally introduced in 2000 in an effort to invigorate Diet deliberations by allowing the prime minister and opposition party leaders to freely exchange opinions, rather than lock them into a question-and-answer format.

Initially, the plan was to hold debates regularly once a week, but none were held in 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Last year, only two debates were held.

One of the reasons for the debates becoming a mere formality is that the opposition parties have placed more importance on the Budget Committee meetings, where they can unilaterally press the prime minister for a longer period of time, compared to the debates between the prime minister and party leaders, at which the time allotted to each party is short.

Therefore, there have been several attempts to boost the debates. In 2014, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold them monthly. In 2018, a nonpartisan group of lawmakers proposed holding them every two weeks.

In that sense, it is praiseworthy that political parties have agreed to hold regular debates, even if only for the three months of the second half of the Diet session.

If the prime minister were to attend the Budget Committee meetings almost every day in response to the opposition parties’ demands, national politics could stagnate. It is timely to convert the debates into a full-fledged discussion forum.

However, what is worrisome is that political parties could use the debates as an opportunity to emphasize to the public their policies of lavish handouts with this summer’s House of Councillors election in mind. The leaders of each party need to be prepared for a substantive debate, taking into account the fact that Japan is in the midst of historic changes regarding both domestic and foreign affairs.

In addition, at the council meetings, the Liberal Democratic Party called for a reduction in the number of committee meetings attended by the foreign minister. This is because the foreign minister is currently responsible for a wide range of matters, including foreign affairs, security, Okinawa and the northern territories, and the abduction issue.

When the central government’s ministries and agencies were reorganized in 2001, the post of senior vice minister, which requires the Emperor’s attestation, was created so that officials in this position could answer questions in place of cabinet ministers. It is necessary to go back to the basics and make active use of senior vice ministers.

Some opposition parties are calling for more legislation and other matters to be debated in the upper house first, prior to the lower house deliberations. This issue has also been pointed out for some time. Diet members should discuss it in both chambers and aim for the Diet to be efficiently managed.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 18, 2025)