Governing coalition officials agreed Wednesday to present a bill next year to abolish a pension plan for lawmakers, raising the likelihood the program is doomed given that the opposition Democratic Party of Japan is calling for its immediate elimination.
The agreement represents a shift from the coalition's previous position, which was to consider merging the lawmakers' pension plan with other plans.
"We need to highlight our reformist approach in a manner that the public can easily understand," a member of the coalition said.
The coalition is eyeing enactment of legislation on the matter next April 1, after details are worked out within the coalition and consultations are held with the opposition camp, ruling party officials said.
The coalition is considering maintaining payments to former lawmakers who currently receive pensions, while incumbent lawmakers would stop paying premiums; payments made up to now would be reimbursed in full, according to the officials.
Lawmakers would then be left with a pension plan designed chiefly for the self-employed.
The coalition has proposed cutting pension payments to former lawmakers by as much as 10 percent and increasing monthly pension premium payments for current lawmakers by 30 percent. It has criticized the DPJ's bill to abolish the pension as unrealistic.