Japan’s main governing Liberal Democratic Party and the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party have agreed to schedule one-on-one debates between party leaders next week.
The debates will be the first under Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. They are likely to center on the revision of the political funds control law, following a funding scandal that involved some LDP factions.
LDP Diet affairs chief, Hamada Yasukazu, and his counterpart from the CDP, Azumi Jun, on Wednesday discussed the Diet schedule for the remaining days of the current session, which ends on June 23.
They agreed to hold one-on-one debates between Kishida and opposition party leaders on June 19.
Azumi is calling for an extension to the length of the debates, which usually last for a total of 45 minutes. He says minority parties need more time allocated to them. The Diet affairs chiefs are still discussing the timetable.
The last party leaders’ debate was held in June 2021 when the then Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide was in office.