The curtain drops on the ordinary Diet session Saturday, quietly and without the catharsis the Democratic Party of Japan aimed for with its last-minute censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last week.
The divided Diet was hard on both sides — the DPJ, the largest opposition force, and the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition — as they wrestled throughout the five-month session over such issues as the budget, gasoline prices, the election of the Bank of Japan governor and medical care for the elderly.
In the end, only 80 bills were enacted during the current Diet session. Last year, when the Diet was not divided, however, 111 bills were approved.