The Diet got off to a stormy start Monday when opposition lawmakers walked out of a House of Representatives plenary session to protest Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's unsatisfactory answers to their questions.
Boos and jeers filled the air shortly after the session kicked off in the afternoon when Koizumi effectively refused to answer questions from Katsuya Okada, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, that he asked in response to Koizumi's policy speech on Friday, the day the Diet convened.
After Koizumi finished replying to Okada's earlier queries concerning such issues as pension reform, postal privatization, the situation in Iraq and political funding, Okada asked nine followup questions.