Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in a policy speech to the Diet Jan. 31, stated: "Emergency legislation (designed to defend Japan in the event of foreign aggression) is necessary to ensure the security of the state and the people. I intend to initiate considerations in this regard." Earlier, on Jan. 26, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed to bolster the Japan-U.S. alliance. The Mori statement is a signal to the new U.S. administration that Japan will take a more positive defense-policy stance.
Mori's emphasis on contingency legislation also reflects a desire to ride out the parliamentary storm over bribery and embezzlement scandals by focusing attention on policy issues. Aside from the security issue, the Mori administration places importance on information technology and educational reform.
Beyond that, Mori seems to be trying to "divide and conquer" the opposition. The two largest opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party, are in favor of contingency legislation, but the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party are dead set against it.