The extraordinary Diet session that opens Friday should be an occasion to review the outcome of the July 11 Upper House election. This is true especially for the Liberal Democratic Party, which failed to win its targeted number of seats. Yet neither the LDP nor the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appears to be taking the setback seriously.
The election showed that voters were critical of the railroading of flawed pension-reform legislation, the participation of Japanese troops in the multinational force in Iraq and Mr. Koizumi's remarks about having missed some past payments into the state pension fund, to name but a few examples. Thus far the prime minister has said little about how he sees the popular verdict.
The LDP's image has been tarnished further by a fresh money scandal. Allegedly the party's largest faction, headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, received a check for 100 million yen from the Japan Dentists Federation. Once again, the issue of "politics and money" is fueling public cynicism. Those responsible should come clean. The Diet should do its utmost to find out the truth.