After heated debate among ruling party lawmakers, the government failed to include a commitment to allowing married couples to use different surnames in its basic gender equality promotion policy approved Friday.

The new five-year policy also pushed back the goal of having women occupy around 30% of managerial positions to "as early as possible in the 2020s" from the initial deadline of this year, with the country continuing to lag behind other nations in narrowing gender gaps.

Hopes had been growing that different surnames would be allowed, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who took office in September, suggested in November he remains committed to introducing the option for married couples.