Koichi Kato, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Tuesday there should be no extension to the current Diet session, which is scheduled to end on June 10.
His remark is seen as a departure from the LDP's earlier plan to extend the Diet session by about one week. "We will make our utmost efforts to finish the Diet session without extending its period," Kato told reporters.
If the Diet ends on June 10 as scheduled, the Upper House election will be held July 5 instead of July 12, as is widely expected. It is generally considered that the LDP will benefit if the election is held earlier, since the party is better prepared for the poll than other political parties.
The LDP had considered extending the current Diet session to allow more time for the deliberation of important bills pending in the Lower House. However, it is believed that no extension will be necessary because the ruling party and the government are now planning to open an extra Diet session in late July to deliberate such bills as one to deal with bad loans incurred by financial institutions, a bill to dispose of huge debts incurred by the former Japanese National Railway and a bill to provide the public with access to administrative information.