Military bills edge forward
The Asahi Shimbun
The ruling coalition, brushing off an opposition boycott, took a step Tuesday that clears the way for Lower House passage by the end of the month of bills designed to prepare the nation for a military attack.
If passed before the month is out, the package of bills could become law before the current Diet session finishes June 19.
The Lower House special committee deliberating the military emergency bills voted Tuesday to set dates for public hearings on the legislation. Public hearings are a major precondition for a vote in committee on bills.
Opposition party members protested the vote, saying there had not been enough debate.
They then boycotted the session and only ruling coalition committee members voted on the motion.
Ruling coalition committee members agreed to hold public hearings outside Tokyo on Friday and Monday as well as in the capital on Monday and Tuesday.
This schedule allows for a vote in committee as early as May 29, with possible passage by the entire Lower House the following day.
Tuesday's move could come back to haunt the coalition since it will likely further inflame relations between the ruling and opposition parties and could bring the Diet to a standstill.
Meanwhile, the chairmen of the Diet affairs committees of the four opposition parties met Tuesday morning and agreed to seek an explanation from Tsutomu Kawara, chairman of the Lower House special committee.
The Japanese Communist Party-affiliated newspaper Akahata published a story Sunday that alleged a construction company paid the salary of one of Kawara's aides.
The opposition said they could not take part in deliberations in the special committee as long as doubts existed about a scandal involving the chairman of the committee.(IHT/Asahi: May 22,2002)