The ordinary Diet session ended last week, but an extraordinary session will begin in late August with the Diet as divided as it is now. Despite confusion, the divided Diet produced some desirable results. Based on their experiences in the ordinary Diet session, both the ruling and opposition forces should be prepared to carry out constructive discussions in the coming session.
After the opposition bloc won overwhelmingly in the Upper House election in July 2007, the ruling bloc came into hard times. It saw its plan for appointing a new Bank of Japan governor rejected twice by the Upper House. It had to resort to a second vote, with a two-thirds majority, in the Lower House on two occasions to pass bills related to road-related taxes.
Yet, through rigorous questioning in the Diet, the opposition bloc brought to light the wasteful use of tax revenues set aside for road-related projects. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was forced to announce that he would free up tax revenue earmarked for roads beginning in fiscal 2009. The divided Diet produced other positive results, including a unanimous resolution urging the government to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous people as well as a compromise that led to enactment of a bill to reform institutional matters related to national servants.