All Diet business remained paralyzed Friday as three opposition blocs continued to boycott deliberations in the House of Representatives for a second day.
The opposition is protesting the ruling parties' handling of the fiscal 1998 budget bills. They are particularly upset by a surprise decision made Wednesday that called for public hearings on the bills to be held at the Lower House Budget Committee.
After the hearings, under Diet rules, the bills can be voted on at any time. The Liberal Democratic Party and one of its two non-Cabinet allies, the Social Democratic Party, voted Wednesday to hold two public hearings, on Wednesday and Thursday, on the 77.67 trillion yen budget for fiscal 1998, which begins April 1, as a prerequisite for passing the budget.
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