Bring Me the End of Diego Garcia

News organizations are reporting that the Prime Minister has lost his tussle with Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Aso Tarō and the New Komeitō. The Extraordinary Diet session will not begin in two weeks time.

Instead, it will begin in the later half of September.

As noted previously (here and here) such a decision basically renders moot the renewal of the legislation authorizing the dispatch of the Maritime Self Defense Forces to the Indian Ocean. A late start also means that there is almost no chance that reform (i.e., painful) legislation will pass this autumn. The Diet will consider a stimulus package and then adjourn.

It seems we will be seeing an early election after all.