February 20, 2025
TOKYO – The minority ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito are close to reaching an agreement with the opposition Japan Innovation Party on revisions to the fiscal 2025 budget proposal, paving the way for passing the proposal by March or the end of fiscal 2024.
The JIP is likely to accept the ruling bloc’s revised plan for realizing free high school education, which has been the biggest point of contention in talks among the parties. The three parties are hurrying to finalize the details.
The LDP and Komeito became a minority ruling bloc following their defeat in the House of Representatives election last year, but with the cooperation of the JIP, they will be able to secure a majority.
The LDP and Komeito on Monday proposed increasing the amount of financial support for households with children attending private high schools, which had been in question, from the current ¥396,000 to a target level of around ¥457,000 from fiscal 2026.
In private talks with the JIP, the LDP presented a plan to spend about ¥400 billion on measures for free high school education in fiscal 2026, including a program to expand eligibility for scholarships for high school students and improve school facilities.
The JIP has been highly receptive to the LDP plan. On a TV program on Tuesday, JIP co-leader Seiji Maehara acknowledged that the budget for free education was approaching the level of ¥600 billion that the JIP has been demanding. “I was told in private that [the total amount] would exceed ¥500 billion,” Maehara said.
If the measures for free high school education are expanded, they will begin to cover tuition for other schools for junior high school graduates, such as colleges of technology (known as KOSEN), and upper secondary specialized training schools.
Since the JIP has also been seeking a commitment from the ruling bloc to work on reducing social insurance premiums as a condition for approving the budget proposal, the three parties have been holding talks on remaining items that need to be coordinated. If an agreement is reached in the talks, the leaders of the three parties are expected to hold a meeting on Friday or later and sign off on a document.
In addition to the JIP, the LDP and Komeito have also been seeking support for their budget proposal from the Democratic Party for the People. To that end, they have been trying accelerate their efforts to reach an agreement.