Tokyo — A no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was defeated in the lower house of Parliament on Friday, a largely symbolic attempt by the opposition parties to stall passage of legislation to send troops to Iraq.
Although opposition parties were mulling more censure attempts against other cabinet officials, the legislation authorizing the troop dispatch is almost certain to pass because Mr. Koizumi's three-party coalition controls the majority in both chambers of parliament.
Mr. Koizumi's ruling bloc mustered 287 votes against the motion, to 178 votes for it in the 480-seat lower house, a parliamentary official said, insisting on anonymity.
The censure motions were expected to continue late into the night.
Opposition Japanese lawmakers swarm the speaker of the house on Friday to try to stop the passage of a bill authorizing sending armed forces to Iraq. (Itsuo Inouye/AP)
The Prime Minister has campaigned hard for the peacekeeping bill, which authorizes sending Japanese ground troops to provide non-combat support for U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Military planners are reportedly considering sending a contingent of up to 1,000 combat engineers and other troops for transport and construction duties.
Opposition parties say such a mission could violate Japan's pacifist constitution and put its troops in the line of fire. Polls show public support has weakened as U.S. casualties in guerrilla attacks have mounted.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. senators on Thursday that Washington is applying "a full court press" for more foreign troops.
Gen. Myers said 19 nations have sent troops and 15 more have agreed to do so, but the 20,000-to-30,000 force will not be enough to reduce the U.S. presence in the near future.
Japan's peacekeeping bill was approved earlier this month by the lower house of Parliament and is now being debated by the upper house.
Mr. Koizumi has accused the opposition of political grandstanding, and his ruling party vowed Friday to convene parliament over the weekend if necessary to ensure that the bill is passed before time runs out on the current legislative session next Monday.
"We will pass the bill during the current parliamentary session, no matter what," said Taku Yamasaki, general secretary of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The opposition parties can keep up their filibuster through the end of the legislative session, but are unlikely to do so because they fear such action might alienate voters or prod Koizumi to dissolve Parliament and call elections, for which they are ill-prepared.
"We'll do our best to scrap the Iraq bill. If (Mr. Koizumi) wants to dissolve the parliament and have a snap election, go ahead," said Yoshihiko Noda, a leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party.
Although it is unlikely anyone in the government will vote against the bill, infighting is escalating as Mr. Koizumi's two-year term as the party's president nears its end in September, and the opposition is trying to exploit the divisions to win voters.
The party is set to hold a leadership vote on Sept. 20. Mr. Koizumi is relatively popular with voters and his opposition is fragmented, but he still needs to consolidate support to win another term.
The opposition has been submitting censure motions in parliament filibuster-style with long speeches and dragged-out voting since Thursday in a bid to push back discussions on the peacekeeping bill.
Censure motions against the Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and chief cabinet minister have already been submitted and defeated. More are reportedly planned in the upper house.
If the one against him had passed, Koizumi would have had to resign or call elections.
Friday's no-confidence motion was the second that Mr. Koizumi has faced since taking office in April, 2001.
