Japanese House Panel OKs New Terror Bill

A new bill that allows special measures on terrorism that has been hotly debated between the Japanese ruling and opposing parties was passed by the Japanese House Special Committee yesterday afternoon.

The Japanese political scene is expected to undergo tremendous turmoil as a result.

The majority parties of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party passed the bill at a lower house panel meeting yesterday in the presence of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The ruling party will now propose the bill at the House’s plenary session and then before the Diet in order to bring the bill to deliberation prior to Prime Minister Fukuda’s visit to the United States.

However, The opposition Democratic Party, the largest force in the upper house, and other opposing parties strongly oppose the bill, which will make it difficult to pass.

The special bill was submitted to the parliament in order to resume fuel support missions to the United States forces in the Indian Ocean, which had been suspended since November 2. The ruling party considers the issue a priority for this interim session of parliament, but the Democratic Party of Japan has consistently opposed the fuel support missions because they do not have a United Nations resolution basis.

The Japanese media is taking the stance that Japanese politics could end up in turmoil if the new bill is either rejected or a vote on it is delayed.

Possible scenarios include second vote approval after obtaining two-thirds of all lower house votes, a prime ministerial reprimand by the Democratic Party, and dismissing the House of Representatives for a new election.

sya@donga.com