The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed at a meeting Thursday that the post of Budget Committee chair in the House of Representatives will go to the CDP.

LDP parliamentary affairs chief Tetsushi Sakamoto and his CDP counterpart, Hirofumi Ryu, reached the agreement after the ruling coalition — comprising the LDP and junior partner Komeito — failed to secure a majority in the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, last month.

"We want to take the result of the Lower House election seriously," Sakamoto told reporters in explaining the reason for his party's concessions to the opposition bloc.

Underscoring the importance of the Budget Committee chair's role, Ryu expressed willingness to create an open discussion environment.

The post, which had been filled by many LDP veterans and was last taken by an opposition lawmaker in 1994, is in charge of managing deliberations on government budget bills and various political issues.

In this year's ordinary Diet session, the LDP-affiliated chairman used his discretion to set the date for voting on the fiscal 2024 budget bill despite the opposition camp's protest.

The LDP's surrender of the top post of the key committee to the opposition side will make it more difficult for the ruling coalition and the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to steer Diet proceedings, critics pointed out.

It has now been agreed that eight of the 17 Lower House standing committee chairpersonships will be held by the LDP, six by the CDP, and one each by Nippon Ishin no Kai, the Democratic Party for the People and Komeito.

The ruling bloc had chaired 15 of the standing committees prior to the election.

Sakamoto and Ryu also agreed to have the special Diet session, set to be convened Monday, run for four days through Nov. 14, and to start an extraordinary session shortly after the special session closes.

During the extra Diet session, the Budget Committee will hold a basic question-and-answer session before deliberating on the fiscal 2024 supplementary budget bill, they said.

Opposition parties hope to use this opportunity to further grill the LDP over matters associated with slush funds created by its intraparty factions, people familiar with the situation said.

Meanwhile, the Diet affairs chiefs decided to choose the Lower House speaker from lawmakers of the LDP, the largest force in the chamber, and the vice speaker from those of the CDP, the second-largest force. The LDP plans to keep Fukushiro Nukaga as speaker.