The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan appears to be struggling to make a distinctive mark on budget negotiations through ongoing talks as policy wrangling on education and tax reform between the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition and opposition parties heats up more than ever before.

Wednesday's session of the Lower House Budget Committee, chaired by CDP lawmaker Jun Azumi, was abruptly postponed over a dispute about how to question Junichiro Matsumoto, 77, a former accountant of the LDP’s now-defunct faction led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, about issues with the past handling of funds from faction-run fundraising parties.

As veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — an utmost priority for the government — Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, along with some of his Cabinet members and lawmakers, were seen on live television visibly bored as they waited for the session to start, and exiting as it became clear the business that had been expected Wednesday would be called off.