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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan set to force through terror law |
| 2008-01-11 |
| The Japanese government is on Friday expected to use its two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament to ram through controversial anti-terror legislation in what would be the first use of such override powers in more than half a century. The administration of Yasuo Fukuda, prime minister, has invested substantial political capital in the legislation, which would allow Japanese naval vessels to resume supplying oil to allied ships on anti-terror patrols in the Indian Ocean. If the bill is passed on Friday, Japanese ships are expected to set sail within weeks. The anti-terror law is opposed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the less powerful upper house. It describes the bill as being solely for the benefit of Washington. Mr Fukuda yesterday told an upper house panel that the law was needed to fulfil JapanÂ’s obligations in the war on terror. The DPJ blocked the extension of previous legislation last year, forcing Japanese ships to suspend a six-year mission, helping to bring down the previous Liberal Democratic party administration of Shinzo Abe in the process. People close to the DPJ suggested that the party was prepared to make a tactical retreat on the issue. It would instead seek to embarrass the LDP during budget deliberations, which are expected to come to a head in March, they said. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #1 Goddamned democrats are the same everywhere. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-01-11 16:31 |