The opposition parties continued Monday their boycott of all Diet debate following the ruling coalition's approval of the Self-Defense Forces dispatch to Iraq, effectively putting House of Councilors deliberations on hold.
The Upper House Budget Committee, scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. to discuss the fiscal 2003 supplementary budget, never started debate because opposition lawmakers refused to attend. The extra budget includes an outlay of 118.8 billion yen to support Iraq's postwar rehabilitation.
The impasse began late Friday, after the coalition, despite protests from the opposition that more debate was necessary, voted to end deliberations at a Lower House committee and approve the SDF deployment.