Japan may give up ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in its current Diet session–the national legislature of Japan–if resistance from opposition parties means it is delayed beyond the end of April, according to The Japan Times. The current Diet session goes through June 1. In that case, deliberation on TPP and related bills would be carried over to a Diet session in the fall.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told the coalition not to “forcibly” proceed with TPP deliberations as it is thought that he may wish to avoid voter backlash in the Japan’s Upper House election this summer and jeopardizing the possibility of a strong win in this summer’s election. The records of Japan’s TPP negotiations were released by the government in response to opposition demands. However, much was blacked out ostensibly to protect closed-door multinational TPP negotiations. The scant information released has served to give ammunition to opposition parties.
