In the afternoon, the House of Representatives Budget Committee deliberated on the new fiscal year's budget bill, and Prime Minister Kishida announced that, in response to the issue surrounding the political funding party of a faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, the House of Representatives Budget Committee will create rules regarding funds provided by companies and organizations. I recognized that this should be discussed.

Education Representative Maehara About making university tuition fees virtually free

▽Maehara, the representative of the Association to Realize Free Education, which is an affiliate of the Japan Restoration Association, said of the issue of effectively making university tuition free, ``Prime Minister Kishida has been squeezed by the Ministry of Finance, saying it costs too much money.'' "They are making a fool of themselves by making the allowance free for households with three or more dependent children. It should start from households with one child."



In response, Prime Minister Kishida said, ``It is not correct to point out that the Ministry of Finance is pushing the issue.Of course, making education free of charge is important, but a combination of various policies, including improving the quality of education, will lead to results. The combination is important."

Communist Party Miyamoto: “Political funding parties have become a loophole for donations.”

Regarding political funding parties, Toru Miyamoto of the Japanese Communist Party said, ``Factions and political organizations of members cannot receive donations from companies and organizations.However, many companies and organizations buy party tickets, and in effect, "Political funding parties have become a loophole for donations."



In response, Prime Minister Kishida said, ``There is a difference between donations from companies and organizations and political funding parties, as they are both donations and business income. It should be done.”



Furthermore, Prime Minister Kishida commented on the nature of corporate and group donations, saying, ``We have reached this point after repeated discussions, but now that such a major incident has occurred, it is important that each party and faction reconsider the common rules. "Of course that should be the case."



In addition, in response to a request to interview former Prime Minister Mori, who once served as the chairman of the current Abe faction, the Seiwa Policy Study Group, Prime Minister Kishida replied, ``We plan to interview the faction's executives.'' However, the scope will be determined appropriately based on our understanding of the facts."



In response, the Communist Party requested that former Prime Minister Mori be subpoenaed as a witness.

National Representative Tamaki Regarding gasoline tax “trigger clause”

▽Representative of the Democratic Party of Japan, Tamaki, commented on the ``trigger clause'' that suspends the tax on the added portion of gasoline tax, saying, ``What is needed is a political decision from Prime Minister Kishida.I would like to request a decision here today to activate the ``trigger clause.'' If there is no prospect of implementation starting in May, when subsidies to each company end, there will be no point in further talks, and we will have no choice but to decide to withdraw from the talks.''



In response, Prime Minister Kishida said, ``I agree that it is important to stabilize fuel prices after May.Looking back at the discussions to date, a major point of contention was whether administrative measures could be taken, but the new proposal Since I received this, I would like to consider it as soon as possible."



On the other hand, regarding the increase in defense spending, when asked about the impact of the weaker yen, Prime Minister Kishida said, ``80% to 90% of the total defense force is personnel expenses, and is not directly affected by foreign exchange rates. "We will strive to rationalize and improve efficiency in the 10% to 20% of areas that are directly affected by exchange rate fluctuations, such as aid procurement, and maintain the budget size and content of 43 trillion yen over five years."