Steering committees of both chambers of parliament held board meetings on Friday to discuss such visits.
Although the trips were approved by the steering committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at the meeting of the steering committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, refused to approve a part of Iwaya’s scheduled trip and opposed the planned visits of the justice and education ministers.
The visits are “nonessential tours,” a CDP lawmaker said. “(Cabinet members) should prioritise their duties that are in front of them, considering the tough environment the people face.”
Members of the Women’s Affairs Division of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party received public backlash for their visit to France in July 2023, after they took a commemorative photo with the Eiffel Tower in Paris in the background. Higher prices and U.S. tariffs are delivering blows to people’s daily lives.
Given the current climate, a mid-ranking LDP official whose Upper House seat will be contested in this summer’s election said that the public impression of this year’s string of Golden Week overseas trips “is especially bad.”
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo by Reuters
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