Friday, March 27, 2009

The Prime Minister Attends the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives

Prime Minister Taro Aso attended the plenary session of the House of Representatives.

Due to the differing decisions of the House of Councillors, which rejected the fiscal 2009 budget proposal during its plenary session held prior the same day, and of the House of Representatives, which passed the proposal during its plenary session on February 27, a joint committee of both Houses was convened. However, no agreement was reached at the joint committee. Article 60 of the Constitution stipulates that the decision of the House of Representatives takes precedence. Accordingly, it was decided to pass the fiscal 2009 budget proposal.

During the plenary session of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House declared that the decision of the House of Representatives shall be the decision of the Diet. The fiscal 2009 budget thus came into force.

Likewise, related bills of the fiscal 2009 budget had been rejected by the House of Councillors during its plenary session and sent back to the House of Representatives. With a more than two-thirds majority in favor of the related bills as a result of an overriding vote, which took place during the plenary session of the House of Representatives, the related bills also came into force in accordance with the stipulation of the second paragraph of Article 59 of the Constitution.