The Upper House on Friday passed censure motions against Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and infrastructure and transport Minister Takeshi Maeda. The nonbinding motions were submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and two smaller parties.
The LDP at first said it would boycott all committee deliberations in the chamber, but on Monday it decided to attend sessions of a special committee to discuss a bill to raise the consumption tax. Komeito made it clear from the start that it will boycott committee deliberations in which either Mr. Tanaka or Mr. Maeda attends.
At any rate, deliberations in the Upper House are likely to be greatly delayed. But the Noda administration appears to have won the battle of wills because the LDP changed its stance. Still, both the ruling and opposition blocs should realize that if the Diet fails to pass legislation needed to help people go about their daily lives as smoothly as possible, the distrust of national politics will deepen further.