TOKYO, Nov. 29 KYODONov. 29 20:36
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday the government remains unchanged in seeking to have the Diet pass a bill during its ongoing session to allow Japan to resume refueling activities in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said separately that seeing through the passage of the bill in the current extraordinary parliamentary session is an ''absolute must'' for the Fukuda government.
''Of course there is no change,'' Fukuda told reporters in response to a query on whether the government still wants the bill approved in the ongoing session despite calls from within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to postpone such efforts until next year's ordinary Diet session.
''We would like the Diet to hold efficient deliberations,'' Fukuda said, referring to the ongoing session scheduled to run through Dec. 15 after being extended 35 days chiefly for passing the refueling bill.
Machimura said he has not heard any calls from within the LDP for restarting the push for the bill in the next regular session due to concerns that bribe-taking allegations against former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya may have negative effects on current parliamentary deliberations.
''This is the biggest bill of this Diet session, and I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that having it passed is an absolute must for the Fukuda Cabinet,'' the government's top spokesman told a press conference.
''In that sense, it means we will certainly have it passed, and there is no misalignment between the government and the ruling parties on this point,'' Machimura added.
However, Naoto Kan, acting leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said he does not think Machimura's view reflects the thoughts of each and every member of the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party.
''There are various opinions within the ruling parties, and I do not see the ruling parties as being 100 percent solidified in terms of consolidation of views as Mr. Machimura may think,'' Kan told a news conference.
The bill cleared the House of Representatives, where the LDP-New Komeito party ruling coalition holds a comfortable majority, in mid-November, and the House of Councillors, controlled by the opposition bloc, has just begun deliberating it.
But as the opposition is resisting the bill, it may take time before the upper house votes on the proposed legislation. The ruling parties may seek to again extend the parliamentary session if they deem more time is needed for deliberations.
Asked about the possibility of extending the current session, Fukuda said he is not thinking about something that far ahead, emphasizing that he hopes the Diet will promptly deliberate on the bill in time for it to be passed by Dec. 15.
Meanwhile, circles within the LDP expressed caution toward extending the current Diet session again as doing so may disrupt the year-end fiscal 2008 budget compilation process and give the public the impression that the government and ruling parties are excessively concerned about having the refueling bill passed.
Some LDP lawmakers also emphasized the importance of solidarity with the New Komeito, which is cautious about a second extension of the current session as well as putting the bill through a re-vote in the upper house.
Even if the bill is rejected in the upper house, it could be sent back to the lower chamber for a re-vote. The bill could become law if the lower house holds a second vote that secures a two-thirds majority, which the ruling coalition holds in the chamber.
Under the Constitution, if the upper house does not vote on a bill within 60 days of receiving it after it passes the lower house, the lower chamber can take that as a rejection and can hold a second vote.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force fleet called off its refueling operation in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 1 as the previous temporary bill authorizing the mission expired that day.
Since the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Moriya on Wednesday on suspicion of taking bribes from a former defense equipment trading house executive, some ruling bloc lawmakers have begun to seek a postponement of Diet debate on the refueling bill until next year as the incident may affect deliberations.
==Kyodo
Posts
