DPJ looks to censure Fukuda

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DPJ looks to censure Fukuda
Kyodo News

The Democratic Party of Japan said Thursday it will introduce a nonbinding censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to the opposition-controlled House of Councilors early next week.

The DPJ had not been planning to submit the motion during the current 150-day Diet session that adjourns June 15 because of the small chance that such a motion would pressure Fukuda into dissolving the Lower House and calling a general election.

But after DPJ chief Ichiro Ozawa instructed the party to reconsider the move, the DPJ leadership concluded "it is important to show a stance to challenge the Fukuda Cabinet," DPJ sources said in a statement.

If introduced, the first censure motion against Fukuda will probably clear the Upper House because two other opposition parties — the Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic Party — have indicated they will support the measure.

On Thursday morning, a ranking DPJ official said: "At least the party leadership sees it as a certainty (that the motion will be introduced). What's left to consider is the issue of timing."

The DPJ has yet to work out details of how to go about the motion's introduction and there remain factors that could derail it, the sources said.

Given its nonbinding nature, the motion is unlikely to result in the resignation of the Fukuda Cabinet or the dissolution of the Lower House.

The DPJ looks to submit the censure motion between Monday and Wednesday.

A senior member of the DPJ's Diet affairs committee said the change in stance is aimed at showing the public that the party is dedicating itself to abolishing the new health-care program for people aged 75 and older and preparing for the general election that must be held next year at the latest.

The health insurance program was introduced in April but has been criticized for placing a heavy financial burden on the elderly.

DPJ looks to censure Fukuda | The Japan Times Online