As negotiations over the budget for fiscal 2025 reach a climax, the government has signaled its readiness to make political concessions, though Nippon Ishin no Kai is exercising caution on whether the ruling coalition will hold up their end of the bargain.
Responding to questions in the Lower House budget committee Monday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reiterated that the ruling bloc will seek a formal agreement with Nippon Ishin on free high school tuition, free day care for children 2 years old and under, and free school meals — causes that the second-largest opposition party in parliament has long fought for.
“I would like to express my sincere respect for the ongoing deliberations between our parties,” Ishiba said, adding the government might explicitly mention new measures on education in this June’s honebuto no hōshin, its economic and fiscal policy guidelines for the upcoming fiscal year.
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