An extraordinary session of the Diet, which started Monday, is to provide a theater for a critical political battle between the Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. With the DPJ as the No. 1 party in the Upper House and the opposition camp in the majority in the second chamber, the LDP may have difficulties, especially over a bill to extended the Maritime Self-Defense Force's antiterrorist mission in the Indian Ocean.
The opposition force in the Upper House can vote down bills passed by the the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition in the Lower House and send them back to the first chamber. Theoretically, the ruling bloc, enjoying more than two-thirds of the Lower House seats, could still enact those returned bills. To do this repeatedly, however, would be politically difficult.
This does not mean the DPJ will have it easy. If the DPJ, with the cooperation of other opposition parties, votes down bills sent to the Upper House, it must provide convincing explanations to the public. If not, such moves could be perceived as a political maneuver to corner Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's weakened administration. The DPJ must remember that although the Upper House election results were a vote of no-confidence against the Abe administration, that does not necessarily make them a vote of confidence for the DPJ.