Japan party execs bracing for possibility of Diet dissolution
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Political maneuvering intensified Tuesday amid suggestions by ruling party officials that a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet could increase the chances of him dissolving parliament for an election.
A source close to the leadership quoted Ishiba as telling aides that dissolving the House of Representatives would be "in sight" if the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, moves to submit a no-confidence motion.
Ishiba's intention, conveyed to executives of his Liberal Democratic Party, served as a warning to the opposition, as CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda has said he will decide "from a broad perspective" whether to submit a motion, with the current parliamentary session set to end in a few weeks.
Speculation has grown that the CDPJ may forgo submitting a no-confidence motion after reaching an agreement with the ruling coalition on a key element of pension reforms. However, the party remains divided on the issue ahead of this summer's upper house election, according to party sources.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, made his case for the submission of a no-confidence motion against Ishiba's Cabinet.
The Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of the LDP, however, rejected the idea of holding elections this summer for both houses of parliament.
Under the Constitution, if a no-confidence motion is approved, the prime minister must dissolve the lower house or the Cabinet must resign within 10 days.
"If Mr. Noda aims to realize a change of government, his party should submit a no-confidence motion," Tamaki told a press conference.
Asked if the DPP would jointly submit one with the CDPJ, Tamaki said, "We will consider (the possibility) depending on the situation."
If the 465-member lower house is dissolved, it would mark the second general election in a year, following the October vote in which Ishiba's LDP and Komeito performed poorly. A separate election to replace half of the 248-member upper house is due this summer.
Komeito Secretary General Makoto Nishida took a negative view about simultaneously holding the elections for both chambers.
"We should seek voters' judgments for each house according to the length of the respective terms stipulated in the Constitution," Nishida said.
Lower house members serve four-year terms unless the chamber is dissolved, while upper house members serve six years.
Ishiba's government is scrambling to reverse a surge in rice prices driven largely by a poor harvest while also trying to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to roll back higher tariffs on products from Japan, a longtime U.S. ally.
LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama, a close aide to Ishiba, said the prime minister will make "the right decision at the right time," adding that the decision rests solely with him.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Japan Party Leaders Debate Scheduled for Wed.
News from Japan Politics Jun 5, 2025 19:00 (JST) Tokyo, June 5 (Jiji Press)--A parliamentary debate between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and leaders of opposition parties will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, it was decided Thursday. The upcoming debate will begin later than the usual 3 p.m., in order to make it easier for the public to watch television broadcasts. It is set to be the final leaders debate of the ongoing parliament session, slated to end June 22. The decision was made at a joint meeting of board members from the committees on fundamental national policies in both chambers of parliament. In the 45-minute event, the chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan will be given 30 minutes to debate Ishiba, while the head of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) will be given nine minutes and that of the Democratic Party for the People six minutes. The leaders are expected to spar over measures to tackle soaring rice prices and the Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations, ahead of the elections for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly this month and for the House of Councillors, the upper parliamentary chamber, this summer. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Defying Trump, National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet Is Still at Work
Chloe Coleman / The Washington Post The 'America's Presidents' gallery at the National Portrait Gallery on April 1. President Donald Trump's latest attempt to assert control over an elite American cultural institution has turned into a high-stakes Washington standoff. In defiance of Trump's announcement last Friday that he was firing her, Kim Sajet – the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery – has continued to report for work, conducting meetings and handling other museum business as she did before, according to several people familiar with her activities who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter. Writing on Truth Social, Trump had declared he is firing Sajet because she 'is a highly partisan person' and because she is a 'strong supporter of DEI,' a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion. He said her replacement would be named shortly. Trump has not provided a legal reasoning to support his authority to fire Sajet. Top congressional Democrats have asserted the president does not have legal authority for the firing. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), a member of the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, said Wednesday that the board had requested more information and 'will discuss the issue further' at its scheduled meeting on Monday. 'We just need more information about her performance, and some of the allegations that were made, so we can make an informed, thoughtful decision,' Peters said. 'Clearly, the president has no authority whatsoever to fire her. The Smithsonian is an independent institution, and the director of the Smithsonian is the one who she reports to and that's the person who makes the decision as to hiring and firing of individuals.' In a joint statement, House Administration Committee ranking Democrat Joseph Morelle of New York and House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said: 'President Trump has no authority to fire employees of the Smithsonian Institution – including the Director of the National Portrait Gallery. The dismissal of Director Sajet is unacceptable and has the same legal weight as the President's prior attempts to undermine the Smithsonian's independence: absolutely none. Should the White House require a copy of the Constitution, we would be more than happy to provide one.' Sajet's refusal to abide by Trump's decision sets up a test of the bounds of presidential authority over the Smithsonian, a sprawling complex of 21 museums, 14 education and research centers and the National Zoo. It is not a traditional government agency nor part of the executive branch, and hiring and firing decisions have historically been handled by the Smithsonian's secretary, rather than its Board of Regents. The Smithsonian's current secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, is widely expected to discuss the president's attempt to oust Sajet at the board meeting Monday. In an only-in-Washington twist, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. – who has been presented with major questions at the Supreme Court regarding the limits of presidential authority since Trump took office – is the chancellor of the Smithsonian and a member of its board. A Trump White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Smithsonian spokesperson declined to comment. In February, Trump made another foray into American arts when he took over control of the Kennedy Center, dismissing his predecessor's appointees to its board, who then installed him as chairman and replaced the institution's director with a political ally with scant experience in the arts. The Smithsonian differs from the Kennedy Center because presidents don't appoint members to its board, which is composed of a mix of officials from all three branches of government and members of the public. But Trump is not without allies on the Smithsonian board, including Vice President JD Vance who, like Roberts, is an ex officio member. Trump's move against Sajet follows an executive order he issued on March 27 titled 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,' which aims to 'restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.' A 35-year-old special assistant and senior associate staff secretary, Lindsey Halligan, was among the order's architects – instigated, in part, by her early-2025 visit to the show 'The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,' an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which shares a building with the Portrait Gallery. The order calls for Halligan and Vice President JD Vance to 'remove improper ideology' from the Smithsonian and 'prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race.' 'President Trump's attempt to fire the National Portrait Gallery Director is outrageous and represents yet another disturbing example of his relentless effort to control American art and culture,' said Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine), the ranking Democrat on the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the Smithsonian, in a statement. 'Despite what the President may think, America's cultural institutions are not run by dictatorial impulses.' On Tuesday a White House official provided The Post a list of 17 instances in which, the White House argued, Sajet was critical of Trump or outspoken about her support for diversity, equity and inclusion. The list included her donations to Democratic politicians and advocacy groups; a social media post praising Anthony S. Fauci; the caption for the museum's presidential portrait of Trump mentioning his two impeachments and 'incitement of insurrection' for the events of Jan. 6, 2021; and numerous quotes from interviews in a variety of publications about her efforts to represent a broad swath of Americans within the gallery's walls. One item on the list was a quote in a 2019 USA Today story about Black artists demanding representation in American artistic institutions: 'We owe it to Americans to reflect them because we owe it to accurate history,' Sajet says. 'I'm not interested in only having a museum for some people.' The list additionally took issue with remarks Sajet has made in support of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, and criticism of Columbus Day and her rejection of one artist's 2016 portrait of Trump as 'too political.' It notes that Sajet has commissioned artworks about Mexican immigration and 'the complications of ancestral and racial history.' It was critical of her 2013 decision to use '50 percent of all money spent on art' to 'support diverse artists and portrait subjects.' Since its founding 179 years ago, the Smithsonian, which receives about 60 percent of its budget from federal appropriations and grants, has generally operated independently, although there have been several controversies in which museums have altered exhibitions in response to outside criticisms, including from politicians. Museum directors, such as Sajet – holders of some of the most prestigious positions in American arts – are not paid with federal funds, instead drawing their salaries from the Smithsonian's trust fund. Hours after Trump's post, Bunch told Smithsonian staff in an email obtained by The Washington Post that the White House also sent new details of proposed cuts to the institution's budget, slashing it by 12 percent and excluding funding for its Anacostia Community Museum and its forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino, Bunch said. On Saturday, at the Portrait Gallery and SAAM's joint family Pride celebration, a trio of visitors strolled the central courtyard in neon vests emblazoned with 'Hands off the arts' on the back – closely watched by a Smithsonian staff member, who hovered nearby. 'I'm outraged' by Sajet's firing, said Karen Nussbaum, 75, of Washington. 'There's a place for a political expression in art, but not political control of art.' 'I think the next step is controlling what artists think and do,' said Cynthia Cain, 60, of Washington, 'and that's not acceptable.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese PM Ishiba Seeks Early Summit with South Korea's Lee to Boost Bilateral Ties; Meeting Could Come as Early as This Month
The Yomiuri Shimbun Prime Minister Ishiba answers questions from reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday, following the South Korean presidential election. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is seeking an early in-person summit meeting with South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung, aiming to build a trusting relationship, potentially during an international conference to be held this month. Ishiba plans to have a telephone conversation soon and intends to call for continued cooperation in diplomacy and security, including among Japan, South Korea and the United States. While speaking to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday, Ishiba congratulated Lee, who advocates practical diplomacy, on his inauguration speech. 'This year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea. I want to strengthen Japan-South Korea and Japan-U.S.-South Korea cooperation with President Lee,' said Ishiba, adding that 'a summit meeting should be held as soon as possible.' The two leaders could potentially meet at either the Group of Seven summit in Canada or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in the Netherlands, both of which are scheduled for this month. South Korea is expected to be invited to the Group of Seven summit. June 22 will mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and commemorative events are scheduled in both countries. Bearing in mind Lee's repeated past criticism of Japan, the prime minister told reporters, 'While comments have been made previously, he also referred to Japan as an important partner during the election campaign.' 'By having a heart-to-heart talk and actively engaging with each other, I believe the bilateral ties will become stronger. As the government, we will also make efforts.' Many have expressed concern about the left wing, which has historically taken a tough stance on Japan regarding historical issues. However, in his inauguration speech, Lee emphasized practical diplomacy and mentioned 'South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.' His comment is seen as a response to the administration of the U.S. President Donald Trump and the rapprochement between Russia and North Korea. 'Even if he may not be as eager as the previous administration [to engage with Japan], President Lee must also intend to stabilize Japan-South Korea relations given the current international climate,' a Foreign Ministry senior official said.
