February 19, 2026
Diet affairs chiefs of the Japanese Communist Party and four other opposition parties on February 18 met in the Diet building and agreed to demand sufficient discussions on the government-proposed budget bill for FY 2026 at both chambers’ budget committee meetings.
The Takaichi government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party seek to enact the bill by the end of March and are considering shortening the deliberation time.
At the meeting, JCP Diet Policy Commission Chair Shiokawa Tetsuya pointed out, “Their act of reducing the deliberation time and forcibly passing the budget bill within this fiscal year is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Shiokawa stressed, “The role of the Diet is to exercise its function of overseeing the administration.” He said, “In this regard, grilling the Cabinet about its budget proposal and its basic stance is important. It is natural that sufficient time should be given to conduct deliberations regarding the LDP’s slush-fund allegations and its ties with the Unification Church, cuts in the consumption tax rate, and other issues, such as social welfare policies and the massive military buildup.”
At the JCP Dietmembers’ general assembly on the same day, JCP Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko criticized Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae for expressing her willingness to pass the budget bill in a month and adopting the stance of shortening the deliberation time drastically. She said that it is unacceptable for PM Takaichi to avoid Diet debates, strongly demanding that discussions on the budget bill be taken place with sufficient time and that government measures that meet people’s demands be established.
The Takaichi government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party seek to enact the bill by the end of March and are considering shortening the deliberation time.
At the meeting, JCP Diet Policy Commission Chair Shiokawa Tetsuya pointed out, “Their act of reducing the deliberation time and forcibly passing the budget bill within this fiscal year is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Shiokawa stressed, “The role of the Diet is to exercise its function of overseeing the administration.” He said, “In this regard, grilling the Cabinet about its budget proposal and its basic stance is important. It is natural that sufficient time should be given to conduct deliberations regarding the LDP’s slush-fund allegations and its ties with the Unification Church, cuts in the consumption tax rate, and other issues, such as social welfare policies and the massive military buildup.”
At the JCP Dietmembers’ general assembly on the same day, JCP Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko criticized Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae for expressing her willingness to pass the budget bill in a month and adopting the stance of shortening the deliberation time drastically. She said that it is unacceptable for PM Takaichi to avoid Diet debates, strongly demanding that discussions on the budget bill be taken place with sufficient time and that government measures that meet people’s demands be established.
