The Diet is in the unusual situation of being open but effectively closed at the same time, as the Budget Committees of the upper and lower houses will not meet until Monday and only a limited number of other committees will gather in the meantime.
It's customary to prioritize deliberations of the Budget Committee over other groups, so opposition parties have refused to hold some committee meetings.
Hiroshige Seko, secretary general for the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors, said at a press conference Tuesday that "no more mistakes will be tolerated" regarding the future management of the Diet. He was referring to the fact that Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki's plans to attend an international conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday were not shared within the LDP and the government, affecting the Diet schedule.
