Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Naoto Kan on Sunday criticized his counterpart in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Hiromu Nonaka, for saying the defeat of a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori does not mean his Cabinet has the public's confidence.
"The remarks are very serious. They are remarks that make fun of the people," the secretary general of the Diet's largest opposition party said on a television program. "The ruling camp should propose a no-confidence motion," he concluded.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the three-party coalition -- the LDP, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party -- voted down a no-confidence motion proposed by the DPJ, the Liberal Party, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, after two LDP faction leaders had threatened to support it.