The Daily Manila Shimbun

 

LDP aims to put conspiracy bill to Upper House vote

June 14, 2017

Tokyo- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party notified the main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday that it plans to hold a vote on a controversial anticonspiracy bill at a House of Councillors plenary meeting within the day in a bid to pass it into law. The LDP hopes to skip a vote by a related Upper House committee by resorting to the option of submitting an "interim report," which allows the full chamber to vote on a bill even if it has not cleared the committee.

The LDP's parliamentary affairs chief of the Upper House, Masaji Matsuyama, put forward the plan at a meeting with his DP counterpart, Kazuya Shinba.
"We found that the current situation doesn't allow the committee to continue deliberations," Matsuyama told reporters after the meeting, referring to an opposition-submitted censure motion against Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda to block enactment of the bill, designed to criminalize planning and preparations to commit serious crimes, including terrorist attacks.
Shinba told Matsuyama that the LDP plan is unacceptable.
The bill passed the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, on May 23.
The ruling camp claims that the anticonspiracy legislation is necessary ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Opposition parties remain opposed to the bill, however, due to concerns over the possible abuse of investigative power.
DP parliamentary affairs chief Kazunori Yamanoi of the Lower House said, "A no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet may be submitted shortly."
On Wednesday morning, the Upper House rejected at a plenary meeting a DP-sponsored motion to censure Regional Revitalization Minister Kozo Yamamoto, who has jurisdiction over national strategic special zones, holding him responsible for the approval of a university faculty plan allegedly influenced by Abe's "will."
Under the plan, the Kake Educational Institution, a school operator headed by a friend of Abe, is set to establish a department of veterinary medicine in a national strategic special zone in western Japan.
The resolution, also intended to block debate and a vote on the anticonspiracy bill, was turned down by a majority of votes mainly from the LDP-led ruling camp.
After a break, the Upper House plenary meeting was resumed in the afternoon, where the motion to censure the justice minister is expected to be voted down as well, due to opposition from the ruling camp and Nippon Ishin no Kai, an opposition party. (Jiji Press)

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