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Japan's
opposition to submit no-confidence motion |
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May 24, 2000
TOKYO, MAY 23 (AP) - The opposition agreed Tuesday to submit a no-confidence motion in Parliament against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori over his statement that Japan is a "divine" nation.
Mori, who took office last month, touched off a political firestorm when he said during a speech last week that Japan is a "divine nation centered on the emperor."
His remarks were widely criticized as evocative of Japan's militaristic past, when soldiers marched off to conquer Asia in the name of an emperor believed to be a living god.
The emperor was reduced to symbolic status by the constitution written after World War II, which provides for separation of church and state.
Branding Mori's statement "unconstitutional," the leaders of Japan's four opposition parties agreed on Tuesday to submit a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet in the lower house.
The motion has virtually no chance of passing since Mori's Liberal Democratic Party and its allies control more than two-thirds of the 500-seat lower house.
But it is a symbolic gesture that could rally public support for the opposition ahead of parliamentary elections set for June 25 by keeping the controversy in the national spotlight.
The vote is also a major embarrassment for Mori, who has been criticized for his gaffe by even members of his own party. Mori has apologized for any "misunderstandings" but has refused to retract his comment.
"The opposition parties wants to show voters they're taking the initiative," said Yasunobu Iwai, a professor of politics at Tokiwa University.
"They don't want to look like they're just following the government's election scenario."
Polls published Tuesday by the Yomiuri and Mainichi newspapers showed public support for Mori's Cabinet falling to below 30 percent in the past month. Mori replaced Keizo Obuchi, who fell into a coma
last month and died May 14.
"Prime Minister's Mori `divine nation' statement was unconstitutional and negates the constitution itself," the opposition said in a statement. "We demand his immediate resignation."
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