During a 51-day extraordinary session, which ended Dec. 9, the Diet passed the third fiscal 2011 supplementary budget and a bill for raising the income tax for 25 years, both aimed at funding reconstruction from the March 11 disasters and the Fukushima nuclear fiasco. The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito cooperated with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. In addition, bills to establish a Reconstruction Agency and special reconstruction zones were enacted with revisions.
However, many important bills were carried over to the next Diet session, because the Upper House, controlled by opposition forces, passed censure motions Dec. 9 against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and consumers affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka. Customarily the opposition refuses to deliberate on state-sponsored bills unless the censured ministers resign. So the government and the DPJ decided not to extend the Diet session.
Both the ruling and opposition parties must consider whether their confrontation was meaningful and contributed to helping the nation overcome the current difficult situation. The government and the ruling and opposition parties must consider taking flexible approaches to problems requiring urgent solution.