The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the main opposition party, submitted two no-confidence motions on Wednesday: one against Lower House speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda over allegations of sexual harassment and a second against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration as a protest against his economic policies, which they say have failed to curb price hikes that are hurting consumers.
Opposition parties regularly submit no-confidence motions against the administration at the end of a regular parliamentary session — the current session is set to end on June 15 — but it is rare for one to be submitted against a Lower House speaker.
The Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party are expected to support the motions. It was unclear whether they would also be backed by the other opposition parties.