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Japan debates terror mission
04/12/2007 09:20 - (SA)
Tokyo - Japan's opposition-led upper house of parliament started debate on Tuesday on resuming support for the US-led "war on terror" amid a political stalemate in the country.
The government faces an uphill battle to persuade the opposition, which won control of the upper house in summer elections, to restart the naval mission in the Indian Ocean which provided fuel to coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Japan was forced to call the ships home a month ago after legislation expired due to the deadlock in parliament. The opposition has insisted that officially pacifist Japan should not be part of "American wars".
The opposition refused to start discussions on resuming the mission until Tuesday, saying it had other priorities including probing a widening bribery scandal at the defence ministry.
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who last month promised US President George W Bush he would work to restart the deployment, opened the parliament session with an apology for the scandal.
"It is very disappointing that such incidents occurred at the defence ministry, the institution that plays a fundamental role in the state," Fukuda said.
"We must reform the defence ministry from its roots so that similar incidents will not be repeated."
The scandal erupted when the defence ministry's recently retired top bureaucrat admitted he and his wife accepted gifts, fine dining and hundreds of golf trips from a military contractor.
The ex-bureaucrat, Takemasa Moriya, was arrested last week on allegations he influenced contracts to benefit his friend.
Fukuda's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, abruptly quit in September after a raft of separate scandals and opposition refusal to renew the naval mission.
Fukuda's coalition still enjoys a large majority in the more powerful lower house and he has left open the possibility of early elections to try to resolve the legislative deadlock and take advantage of recent opposition disarray.
An election would be a dead heat if held now, the Asahi Shimbun said in a poll published on Tuesday.
Thirty-two percent would back Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party in the proportional representation section of a general election, with the main opposition Democratic Party polling the same figure, the survey said.
Other respondents were undecided or favoured other parties according to the weekend telephone poll of 1 969 adults across Japan.
The survey also found the public was evenly split on military operations in the Indian Ocean, with 44% in support and an equal ratio against.
When asked specifically about Fukuda's proposal to resume refuelling, 36% supported it and 43% were opposed, the poll said.
Voter support for the Fukuda cabinet was at 44%, almost unchanged from 45% a month ago.
- AFP
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