sexta-feira, 30 de julho de 2010

DPJ, Kan in hot seat as Diet opens

Party keeps Upper House helm but LDP flexes new clout


The first extraordinary Diet session under the administration of Prime Minister Naoto Kan convened Friday, with the opposition looking to pressure the ruling coalition following the recent loss of its Upper House majority.

The Diet session will last through Aug. 6, with Kan to participate in his first round of debates since he took over the government's top spot following the early-June resignation of Yukio Hatoyama. The abbreviated session is mainly for picking the Upper House chief and heads of standing committees.
In a morning news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told reporters the ruling Democratic Party of Japan should not be daunted despite the recent setback in the Upper House election.
"We'd like to continue to send the public constructive and creative messages about revitalizing our nation," he said.
But facing a divided Diet, the DPJ will encounter difficulty passing bills without the cooperation of the opposition camp. And Kan will also have to deal with voices from within his party calling for him to resign over the Upper House result, as he gears up to keep his post in September's DPJ presidential race.
During an Upper House plenary session, DPJ lawmaker Takeo Nishioka was voted in as new president of the chamber, while the Liberal Democratic Party's Hidehisa Otsuji was elected vice president.
The Japan Times