As a follow-up to my earlier article about the current opposition boycott of Supplementary Budget discussions (Opposition Boycott, 02/02/07), it appears that next week's Upper House budget debates will also be a lonely ruling-party affair. According to today's Asahi Shimbun (04/02/07, pg.2), the People's New Party (PNP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are all intending to be absent from the Upper House debates as a protest against Minister Yanagisawa's description of women as "baby-making machines" on the 27th January. The Japan Communist Party (JCP) has indicated they will be attending, but in a non-vocal capacity only.
It was thought that the absence may have been, in part, a device to shore up support prior to this weekend's elections. Some sources indicated that debate would resume next week after today's gubernatorial elections in Aichi Prefecture and the vote for the mayor of Kita-Kyushu City.
By keeping the pressure on the Government, the opposition evidently believes that support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will thin-out even more than is already the case. It is hoped that the outdated comments by Yanagisawa, and Prime Minster Abe Shinzo's failure to punish them, will hand the advantage to the opposition in the run-up to both the Local elections in the spring and this summer's Upper House ballot.
However, this is a tactic that could easily backfire. By their absence, opposition parties are unable to scrutinize LDP budget plans - 'opposition' becomes very theoretical when there is no-one there to 'oppose' - and the electorate may just feel that this is a greater dereliction of duty than Yanagisawa's misguided remarks. Can members of the DPJ really expect to be seen as serious Government-potential when they forgo the democratic debate they have been elected for?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment