TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's parliament was set to vote to resume a disputed mission backing the US-led "war on terror" Friday, resorting to a tactic unused for half a century to override months of opposition resistance.
The United States and other Western nations have urged Japan to restart the mission, under which the officially pacifist Asian nation provided fuel on the Indian Ocean to coalition forces engaged in Afghanistan.
The opposition argues that Japan should not be part of "American wars" and used its new-found control of the upper house to block legislation to renew the deployment, ending it in November.
Embattled Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has submitted legislation to restart the mission and urged the opposition to support it, saying the world's second largest economy needs to play a greater role in global security.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan refused to budge. It cooperated with smaller parties and voted down the bill Thursday at the foreign and defence affairs committee of the opposition-ruled upper house.
Making a last plea to the opposition to back the bill, Fukuda told the committee: "It is very important to show to other countries that Japan is eager to cooperate for global peace."
"Japan should play its due part to avoid facing the accusation that Japan is a free rider depending on other countries' activities for peace," he said.
Following the committee decision, the full upper house is expected to reject the bill at a plenary session on Friday.
But Fukuda's coalition still enjoys an overwhelming majority in the more powerful lower house and has said it will move immediately to pass the bill.
Japan's 1947 constitution allows the lower house to approve a bill in a second vote by a two-thirds majority even after the upper house rejected it.
According to a parliamentary spokeswoman, the provision has been used only once before -- for a law regulating motor boat racing in 1951, a year before Japan regained its sovereignty from the US occupation.
The endgame in the long controversy comes as Fukuda struggles to reverse sliding poll numbers following a raft of scandals.
He took over in September after his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, quit following an election defeat and his failure to renew the Afghan mission.
The opposition had stalled the bill since it was sent by the lower house in November, preferring instead to focus on a series of scandals and pushing for an early general election.
But it was forced to act as the bill would on Friday automatically return to the lower house 60 days after it was submitted to the upper chamber.
Fukuda promised US President George W. Bush in November to work to restore the mission, Japan's main contribution to the "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The opposition has argued that the mission violates the pacifist constitution and that Japan should only take part in missions explicitly under the United Nations umbrella.
The United States and other Western nations have urged Japan to restart the mission, under which the officially pacifist Asian nation provided fuel on the Indian Ocean to coalition forces engaged in Afghanistan.
The opposition argues that Japan should not be part of "American wars" and used its new-found control of the upper house to block legislation to renew the deployment, ending it in November.
Embattled Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has submitted legislation to restart the mission and urged the opposition to support it, saying the world's second largest economy needs to play a greater role in global security.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan refused to budge. It cooperated with smaller parties and voted down the bill Thursday at the foreign and defence affairs committee of the opposition-ruled upper house.
Making a last plea to the opposition to back the bill, Fukuda told the committee: "It is very important to show to other countries that Japan is eager to cooperate for global peace."
"Japan should play its due part to avoid facing the accusation that Japan is a free rider depending on other countries' activities for peace," he said.
Following the committee decision, the full upper house is expected to reject the bill at a plenary session on Friday.
But Fukuda's coalition still enjoys an overwhelming majority in the more powerful lower house and has said it will move immediately to pass the bill.
Japan's 1947 constitution allows the lower house to approve a bill in a second vote by a two-thirds majority even after the upper house rejected it.
According to a parliamentary spokeswoman, the provision has been used only once before -- for a law regulating motor boat racing in 1951, a year before Japan regained its sovereignty from the US occupation.
The endgame in the long controversy comes as Fukuda struggles to reverse sliding poll numbers following a raft of scandals.
He took over in September after his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, quit following an election defeat and his failure to renew the Afghan mission.
The opposition had stalled the bill since it was sent by the lower house in November, preferring instead to focus on a series of scandals and pushing for an early general election.
But it was forced to act as the bill would on Friday automatically return to the lower house 60 days after it was submitted to the upper chamber.
Fukuda promised US President George W. Bush in November to work to restore the mission, Japan's main contribution to the "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The opposition has argued that the mission violates the pacifist constitution and that Japan should only take part in missions explicitly under the United Nations umbrella.
No comments:
Post a Comment