Ruling parties force Upper House deliberations on education bill without opposition parties

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Ruling parties force Upper House deliberations on education bill without opposition parties

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on November 17 forcibly held a House of Councilors Plenary Session without the attendance of opposition parties to push ahead with deliberations in the Upper House on a bill to adversely revise the Fundamental Law of Education.

Earlier, the Japanese Communist, Democratic, Social Democratic, and People's New parties made representations to the Upper House president not to open deliberations on the bill without the attendance of opposition parties, emphasizing that the ruling parties had violated the rules of Diet procedure by unilaterally forcing a vote on the bill in the House of Representatives.

The Upper House Steering Committee chairman, however, used his authority to open the plenary session, exacerbating the situation. This left the opposition parties no choice but to absent themselves from the session in protest.

About 8,500 people participated in rallies held twice in the afternoon and again in the evening at Hibiya Amphitheatre in Tokyo, calling for the defeat of the bill after a thorough discussion in the Upper House.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo from the rostrum severely criticized the ruling parties for their series of Diet actions to rush the bill through, describing them as "going on a rampage." He said that the ruling parties' disregard of Diet rules is undemocratic and "anti-educational."

Shii pointed out that thorough discussions on the bill are required concerning each of three issues:

(1) The qualification of the government as the submitter of the bill must be called into question due to misconduct that includes the planting of pre-scripted questions at town meetings;
(2) Discussion of urgent education problems including bullying-related suicides is required;
(3) The bill's violations of the Constitution by instilling patriotism in students constitutes an infringement of freedom of conscience and enables the state to take control of education.

Shii said, "The ruling parties' outrageous acts show that they are being driven into a corner," and called on participants to further corner them until the bill is scrapped.
- Akahata, November 18, 2006