Diet deliberations have been proceeding fairly smoothly since the 150-day regular session opened on Jan. 19. This augurs well for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who wants to avoid a legislative gridlock before July's Upper House election. He cleared a major hurdle last month when the Diet approved his troop-deployment plan for Iraq. Last week, the Lower House passed the 2004 government budget on time, making it certain that the package will be voted into law before the new fiscal year begins April 1.
The smooth going in part reflects a change of parliamentary tactics. In the past, the opposition parties boycotted debates to obstruct or delay the passage of bills, taking the budget hostage in the process and often forcing the government to prepare a stopgap budget. This did not happen this time around.
To be sure, the debate on the troop-dispatch plan was a political time bomb. The opposition boycotted the Lower House debate, threatening to derail the budget debate along the way. But the boycott ended quickly, largely because this heavy-handed method -- a legacy from the Cold War era when politics was divided along ideological lines -- no longer has much public support and understanding.