Photo/Illutration New Lower House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga reads his ceremonial address at the opening ceremony of the extraordinary session of the Diet on Oct. 20. (Koichi Ueda)

An extraordinary session of the Diet convened Oct. 20 during which the government aims to pass a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to combat spiraling prices of foodstuffs and commodities as well as a surprise tax cut.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier announced plans for a tax cut in the hope it will help claw back public support for his Cabinet.

The 212th session, the first legislative meeting since Kishida recently tinkered with his current Cabinet lineup a second time, approved the resignation of embattled Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda. Former Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was elected as his successor.

The extraordinary session will provide an opportunity to see how the new Cabinet members acquit themselves in the legislative forum and give the opposition parties a chance to question the way Kishida is managing his government.

Kishida will deliver a policy speech Oct. 23 to announce, among other things, his plans to immediately return an unexpected windfall in tax revenue to the people.

He will field questions on his policy speech in the Lower House on Oct. 24 and 25, and in the Upper House on Oct. 25 and 26. The extraordinary session will last 55 days and wind up on Dec. 13.

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