Key ruling bloc and opposition lawmakers exchanged barbs Thursday in the Diet, opening a new round of squabbling following the enactment of a contentious secondary budget just two days earlier.
Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, took a shot at Prime Minister Aso's speech the previous day, when Aso pledged to rebuild a "secure and dynamic society."
The pledge is merely a "list of plain words," not a policy slogan, Hatoyama said during the Lower House session.