The opposition parties launched a last-minute move Thursday to block final Upper House votes on a government-sponsored bill to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, by submitting a series of censure motions against Cabinet ministers.
While the first motion, presented against Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, was voted down by the ruling coalition in an Upper House plenary session in the evening, the opposition camp quickly submitted another motion against Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba.
When a censure motion is submitted against a Cabinet minister, all deliberations must be stopped and a vote on the motion should be held in a plenary session of the chamber in which it was presented.