Japan to convene special Diet session on Oct. 21

Japan's autumn extraordinary Diet session is set to be convened on Oct. 21, but ruling and opposition parties have yet to agree on the schedule for the vote to select a new prime minister to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.



Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday conveyed the government's plan to summon the Diet on Oct. 21.



During subsequent discussions, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) proposed holding the prime ministerial election during the session on the same day the Diet convenes.



The opposition parties, however, declined to immediately agree.



After Sanae Takaichi won the LDP presidential election on Oct. 4, her party's junior coalition partner, Komeito, announced last week its withdrawal from the coalition government and ruled out voting for her in the upcoming Diet session.



Komeito's exit from the ruling camp throws the LDP's grip on power into uncertainty, but the LDP remains the largest force in both chambers of parliament even though it lacks a majority in either.