The nation's ruling parties agreed Wednesday to extend the ongoing ordinary Diet session until July 22 in an attempt to ensure the passage of key legislative measures.

The extension of 32 days was agreed to during a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, and Natsuo Yamaguchi, chief of the ruling party's junior coalition partner Komeito, lawmakers said.

If extended, it will be the first time since 2015, when lawmakers were debating controversial security legislation that was subsequently enacted to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces overseas.