Ruling parties railroad through Lower House bill to revise education law

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Ruling parties railroad through Lower House bill to revise education law

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on November 16 forcibly got a bill to adversary revise the Fundamental Law of Education passed through the House of Representatives while four opposition parties were absent from the Lower House Plenary Session.

The Japanese Communist, Democratic, Social Democratic, and People's New parties held an emergency meeting in the Diet building in protest against the vote and confirmed their determination to join forces to prevent the government bill from being enacted in the current Diet session.

At a press conference in the Diet building, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo firmly criticized the government for setting the voting date before listening to citizens' opinions in a public hearing in order to rush to get the bill passed quickly through the Lower House. Expressing his determination to block the bill, he said, "The ruling parties committed this outrageous act in violation of parliamentary rules. We denounce their ruling parties for using their force of majority to railroad through the bill that will harm children's futures. Their resort to lawlessness indicates that they have been cornered."

Various actions in protest against the forcible passage were carried out in front of the Diet building, including sit-ins by members of the General Workers' Union affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) and the "human chain" action by citizens' organizations.

Similar actions were conducted in Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, and other parts of Japan.
- Akahata, November 17, 2006