The ruling and opposition parties have begun amendments to the Special Measures Law for Countermeasures against the New Coronavirus and the Amendment to the Infectious Diseases Law. Communicated the idea of taking it home and considering it, and will continue discussions on the 27th.
In addition to the chief directors of the ruling and opposition parties of the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee and the Welfare and Labor Committee, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party, the chairman of the Diet Measures Committee, also attended the amendment discussions held in the Diet.
Among them, opinions were exchanged on five items, such as penalties for businesses and infected persons included in the amendments to the Act on Special Measures for Countermeasures against the New Coronavirus and the Infectious Diseases Law, and the way financial support should be provided to businesses. I did.
Of these, the opposition party demanded that the infected person who refused the hospitalization recommendation be withdrawn, saying that it was "too much" to impose criminal penalties including imprisonment.
He also insisted that fines for businesses that do not respond to orders such as shortening business hours should be reviewed, saying that "without sufficient financial support, the effectiveness will not increase."
Furthermore, in order to ensure transparency regarding "priority measures such as prevention of spread" before the state of emergency was declared, we requested that reports be provided to the Diet.
In response, the ruling party announced the idea of taking it home and considering it, and decided to continue discussions on the 27th.
The ruling party wants to start deliberating the amendment at the plenary session of the House of Representatives on the 29th of this week, and the focus will be on how far it can deal with the opposition party in terms of handling penalties.