An extraordinary Diet session during which the ruling parties hope to pass bills aimed at facilitating women’s active participation in society and reinvigorating local economies convenes Monday.

The upcoming session — which sets in motion the first parliamentary debates since the close of the last ordinary session about three months ago — pits the ruling parties against the opposition camp, which is poised to confront the government over the change it made to its constitutional interpretation of the collective right of self-defense.

The opposition is also planning to take up other issues, including whether some of the new Cabinet members are fit for their jobs.

The 63-day extraordinary session is scheduled to end on Nov. 30.

At the beginning of the session, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a policy speech, followed by questions to be posed by representatives of both ruling and opposition parties at the plenary sessions of both Diet chambers. Then the budget committees of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors will hold interpellation sessions with all Cabinet ministers attending, which will be followed by deliberations on specific bills.

The government and the ruling parties regard the session as an opportunity to showcase their key policies and submit bills — including one aimed at encouraging companies as well as the central and local governments to promote women to managerial and executive positions, and another at revitalizing local communities.

The introduction of security bills related to the exercise of the right of collective self-defense will be postponed to the upcoming ordinary session next year.

“We’ll take it easy during the extraordinary session,” a government source said. “Difficult challenges will be dealt with thoroughly in the ordinary session.”

The Democratic Party of Japan is set to judge whether new Cabinet ministers appointed in a reshuffle earlier this month are capable of meeting the demands of their posts through interpellations. The ministers of the pre-reshuffle Abe Cabinet all delivered solid answers to the Diet, helping deliberations proceed as the ruling parties had hoped.

The largest opposition party believes that the session will provide a chance to draw gaffes from new ministers who are not accustomed to giving answers in the Diet. The DPJ also plans to grill the government over the exercise of the right of collective self-defense, as it believes the process running up to its Cabinet approval was not transparent.

Abe to foster diplomacy during session

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be tied up with a busy diplomatic itinerary during the extraordinary Diet session, the schedule for deliberating bills will likely be tight, though the term itself will not be shorter than past extraordinary sessions.

The prime minister will first visit Italy on Oct. 16-17 to attend the session of the Asia-Europe Meeting. November will see him traveling to several nations: China for the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov. 10-11; Myanmar for the meeting of the East Asia Summit on Nov. 12-13; and Australia for the Group of 20 summit meeting on Nov. 15-16.

At the APEC meeting in particular there may be opportunities for Abe to hold summit talks separately with Chinese, South Korean and Russian leaders. Any such meetings, if realized, are certain to attract global attention.

Furthermore, Dutch King Willem-Alexander will visit Japan on Oct. 28-31 as a state guest. The king is scheduled to hold talks with the prime minister during his stay.

Abe hopes to expand his diplomatic horizon by actively meeting with foreign leaders, efforts he believes will solidify the foundation of his administration.

In December, Abe will decide if the government should raise the consumption tax rate to 10 percent from October next year. Before doing so, he will hear opinions from experts in various fields in November.

“This autumn, the prime minister has to brace himself for the busiest period since his inauguration,” an aide to Abe said.

“It will be hard for him to spend much time on Diet deliberations.”