Japanese Diet convenes at tough time for PM after electoral flop

The Japanese Diet convened Friday for an extraordinary parliamentary session, during which time opposition parties are widely expected to take aim at Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), for losing its majority in the recent House of Councilors election.

The parliamentary session, which will last through August 6, will be the first occasion that the prime minister and DPJ chief has been involved in fully-fledged parliamentary debates since he replaced former leader Yukio Hatoyama last month.

Kan, himself in a slightly precarious position ahead of a DPJ presidential election slated for September, will want to avoid full-frontal confrontation with opposition parties and, according to political pundits, will seek for cooperation from the opposition bloc in order to get new bills passed as smoothly as possible.

The DPJ and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were in agreement Thursday that Takeo Nishioka, a senior DPJ lawmaker, will be the new House of Councillors president.

In light of this appointment both parties agreed that LDP members will take up the posts of vice president and chairman of the house's steering committee.

Hidehisa Otsuji, head of LDP lawmakers in the upper house, has been named as vice president and Seiji Suzuki, the party's Diet affairs chief in the chamber, will assume the post of committee chairman, lawmakers said.


【1】 【2】