The Liberal Democratic Party-led administration is coordinating to convene parliament for an extraordinary session on Oct. 15 to elect Japan's next prime minister, following the ruling party's upcoming leadership election, party sources said Thursday.
A vote to choose outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's successor is expected on the first day of the session, and the new prime minister will form the Cabinet later in the day.
The winner of Saturday's LDP leadership election is likely to become prime minister, with opposition parties unlikely to unite behind a single candidate of their own, despite the LDP-Komeito coalition lacking majorities in both chambers of parliament.
The new prime minister will address each chamber and answer questions from party representatives. Opposition parties are demanding that each chamber's budget committee hold intensive discussions with the new prime minister as soon as possible. The dates of these budget committee meetings will be set based on the new prime minister's diplomatic schedule, which includes a visit to Malaysia for meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that are expected to begin on Oct. 26.
During the extraordinary session, the government is expected to submit a supplementary budget bill. It remains to be seen whether the ruling bloc can gain enough support from the opposition to pass the bill.
Parliament is also expected to deliberate on a bill to scrap the provisional gasoline tax surcharge, which the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to carry out by the end of the year.
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