While opposition party members in the Upper House "ox walked" in an attempt to delay their vote against the passage of a bill to allow wiretapping by authorities Thursday, lawyers and citizens showed their disappointment and protested the ruling coalition and its ally.
"The majority of the Diet is not parallel to public opinion," commentator Makoto Sataka said at a news conference Thursday near the Diet building.
Sataka cited a survey that revealed more than half of those polled are against the idea of giving investigators the authority to wiretap.
Toshimaru Ogura, a professor of economics at Toyama University, said the wiretapping law will force the international community to cast into doubt Japan's telecommunications systems. People may fear a police program installed for monitoring, causing damage to corporate credibility of business operators, in addition to individual privacy infringement.
Those against the wiretapping bill have tried to gain public understanding of the bill's perceived dangers, but lawyer Yuichi Kaido said "if we had other tactics, maybe we could have done better." Kaido has been protesting the wiretapping bill since the idea was first launched more than two years ago.
"We shouldn't give up our fight," he said, "because the law can be abolished."