Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the prime minister’s office on Oct. 29. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Desperate for allies, the Ishiba administration pointedly plans to incorporate several economic measures proposed by the opposition Democratic Party for the People into a stimulus package to be announced soon, sources said.

It hopes to form a “partial alliance” with the DPP to secure its cooperation not only on a draft supplementary budget to finance the package of economic measures but also on Diet votes to name the prime minister and future legislation, the sources said.

The DPP’s secretary-general and Diet affairs chief will hold a meeting with their counterparts from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Oct. 31, the DPP announced on Oct. 30. 

In the Oct. 27 Lower House election, the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito won only 215 seats, 18 short of a 233-seat majority.

The DPP expanded its strength fourfold to 28 seats.

At a news conference on Oct. 28, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is the LDP president, said, “We want to proactively incorporate policies where we are lacking,” referring to “political parties that substantially increased the number of Lower House seats.”

A senior administration official said Ishiba was effectively speaking about the DPP.

“The DPP has consistently called for ‘increasing people’s after-tax income,’” the official said. “The proposal is in line with the administration’s policy to increase real wages.”

The administration plans to call on the DPP to hold discussions on economic policies and finalize the comprehensive package for Cabinet approval around Nov. 14, the sources said.

A special Diet session will be convened as early as Nov. 11, and the two chambers will vote on who will be named prime minister.

If Ishiba is named as prime minister again, the administration plans to compile a draft supplementary budget and enact it by the end of the year, the sources said.

The LDP began considering establishing a forum for policy dialogue with opposition parties to hear their opinions about the draft supplementary budget.

Senior officials from the LDP and Komeito will discuss the plan on Oct. 31, at the earliest.

During the Lower House election campaign, Ishiba said the proposed extra budget will be worth more than the 13 trillion yen ($84.7 billion) spent under last year’s supplementary budget.

The budget size could swell if the administration agrees to include the DPP’s proposals to alleviate the increased burden of energy costs.

At a news conference on Oct. 29, DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki said the party is prepared to hold discussions on policies with the ruling coalition parties.

“We want to realize one or more policies that we promised to voters,” he said.

A senior DPP official said the party will consider supporting the administration’s supplementary budget proposal if the ruling coalition parties accept its priority policies, such as income tax cuts and measures to cushion the impact of high energy costs.

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