3-day Diet session starts

An extraordinary Diet session that will last for only three days was convened Wednesday.

During a plenary session of the House of Councillors in the morning, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Hidehisa Otsuji, 81, a former health, labor and welfare minister, was chosen as president of the upper house. Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hiroyuki Nagahama, 63, a former environment minister, was selected as the chamber’s vice president.

An opening ceremony attended by the Emperor was held Wednesday afternoon.

On Friday, the session’s last day, House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda will read out a message of condolence for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot while giving a campaign speech last month. The LDP had been arranging for the party’s former Secretary General Akira Amari to deliver a memorial address during the session, but this has been pushed back until the next extraordinary Diet session in autumn due to a backlash from opposition parties and even objections from within the ruling parties.