Japanese public opinion questions Takashi Hayashi's "insensitivity towards the parliament"

Recently, many Japanese media outlets and various individuals have criticized Prime Minister Takemi Masako for her appearance at the parliamentary hearing and her response. They questioned her for "showing contempt for the parliament".

Xinhua News Agency quoted a report from Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" stating that as of Monday (July 6th), Takumi Asao had attended concentrated deliberations in this session of the parliament eight times, totaling 29 hours and 36 minutes. This was only about 40% of the average attendance time of former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga, Fumio Kishida, and Shigeru Ishiba over the past five years. Additionally, according to the agreement reached between the Japanese ruling and opposition parties in 2025, during the regular parliamentary session from April to June, a party leader discussion should be held once a month. However, Takumi Asao only attended once in May this year.

On the part of the opposition, it was pointed out in the parliament on the 6th that the legislative process of this current parliament has significantly slowed down: during the three regular sessions of the parliament from 2023 to 2025, the approval rate of the government's submitted bills was close to 98%; but when the current parliamentary session was approaching its end, the approval rate of the bills was only 73%.

On the 7th, Yamashita Tetsu, the policy chief of the Japanese Communist Party, posted a message on social media, criticizing Takumi Kojima for "effectively refusing to have the matter reviewed by the parliament". Moreover, even when attending the parliament, she often avoided answering questions from the parliamentarians directly, repeatedly demonstrating an untrustworthy attitude in her responses.

Honda Yoji, a professor of education at the Graduate School of Tokyo University, said that Takumi Asako used mechanized and repetitive statements to handle the defense, causing the parliamentary deliberations to come to a standstill. She criticized Takumi Asako, the ruling party and its supporters for lacking the necessary reflection and sense of responsibility.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that during this parliamentary session, the government of Takashi Koga made use of the ruling party's majority in the House of Representatives to shorten the review time for the budget bill. Despite opposition from the opposition parties, they forcibly pushed through several bills, leading to a continuous escalation of the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The report quoted a former cabinet member of the Liberal Democratic Party as saying: "This is the worst parliament I have ever seen."