Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, notorious for his verbal blunders, may not be the only Cabinet member who needs to watch his tongue.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Mori's right-hand man, said Wednesday he has apologized to the Lower House for calling opposition party members "gaki," or "spoiled brats."

Fukuda used the derogatory phrase before reporters in the Diet hallway early Tuesday. He was referring to the parliamentary confusion that delayed a vote on the opposition's proposed no-confidence motion against Mori.

The Lower House plenary session was thrown into confusion after Kenshiro Matsunami of the New Conservative Party, a junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, threw a glass of water at jeering opposition members during his speech against the motion.

His action triggered loud protest from opposition members, who also criticized Lower House Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki for his handling of the incident.

Fukuda later described the opposition's noisy protest against Watanuki as "worse than spoiled brats."

Maybe the difference between Mori and Fukuda is the latter's willingness to quickly retract his comment to minimize any damage.

"Although I was not speaking at an official press conference, (my remarks) were inappropriate," Fukuda told the Lower House Committee on Rules and Administration, which comprises representatives from the ruling and opposition parties, on Wednesday. "I apologize straightforwardly, and I will be careful from now on."

Fukuda, an LDP Lower House member, conveyed the message through an LDP representative, he said in a regular news conference later in the day. Meanwhile, key members of the Lower House Committee on Discipline agreed at a meeting Wednesday that Matsunami should either be suspended for up to 30 days or expelled from the Lower House for his action during the plenary session. A final decision will be made on Monday, and it is most likely that he will be suspended.

Fifty-two Diet members have been given similar punishment since the end of World War II. In 1994, then Shinshinto member Toshio Yamaguchi, who was later accused of breach of trust, was ordered to apologize after he threw a cup of water over a Budget Committee chairman.

Only one lawmaker -- a Japanese Communist Party member -- has been expelled from the chamber. He had refused to obey a Discipline Committee decision requiring him to apologize.