Japan's opposition stepped up its campaign to delay a bill enabling the dispatch of troops to Iraq yesterday, submitting a no-confidence motion in the Cabinet and insisting it was prepared to force a general election.
The government pledged it would pass the bill before the current parliamentary session ends on Monday and failure to do so would mean a huge loss of face for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, possibly forcing him to call a snap general election -- something analysts doubt the opposition is prepared to risk.
"We will definitely pass the bill in this parliamentary session," said Taku Yamasaki, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which dominates the ruling coalition.
Koizumi is determined to keep his promise to the US to send troops to Iraq despite the fact that a recent poll showed more than half of Japanese voters oppose the move.
Unnerved by mounting US casualties in Iraq, many Japanese are reluctant to see their troops -- who have not fired weapons in combat since the end of World War II -- in danger.
The bill has been approved by the more powerful Lower House, but must also pass the upper chamber before being enacted.
Serious stalling began on Thursday, when some opposition members resorted to the "ox walk" tactic, stepping slowly toward the dais where they cast their ballots on a string of censure motions against Cabinet members in parliament's Upper House.
One opposition member even patted his pockets in an apparent pantomime of having lost his ballot, helping to delay the end of parliamentary business for the day until after midnight.
The maneuvres continued on Friday, with a no-confidence motion against Koizumi's Cabinet submitted to the Lower House. The motion is certain to fail because the ruling coalition has a majority in both houses.
"We are going to spend the day doing our best to make sure the Iraq bill fails," Yoshihiko Noda, an executive with the main opposition Democratic Party, told a news conference.
Asked if his party was ready for an election should the bill fail to pass, Noda said: "That's precisely what we want."
The Democrats agreed earlier this week to merge with a smaller opposition group ahead of an election many expect in November, but analysts say the two groups are not yet prepared for a campaign.
Ruling politicians also dismissed the opposition tactics as pure performance.
"If the opposition parties were really serious, they would have submitted no-confidence and censure motions against every member of the Cabinet," said LDP lawmaker Taro Kono in an e-mail message. "The fact they haven't gone that far means they are faking."
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS