Japan Press Weekly

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2011 December 7 - 13 [POLITICS]

Censure motion against Defense Minister adopted

The House of Councilors plenary session on December 9 adopted censure motions against Defense Minister Ichikawa Yasuo and State Minister for Consumer Affairs Yamaoka Kenji. The Japanese Communist Party voted for the two motions.

The Liberal Democratic Party and the Komei Party submitted the motions, reasoning that Ichikawa has supervisory responsibility for the Okinawa defense official who made a remark insulting Okinawans and women, and that Yamaoka is not qualified to be a consumer minister because he has a connection with pyramid scams.

Unlike the LDP and Komei Party, which only criticize the insulting remark for slowing down the construction plan of a new U.S. base in Okinawa, the JCP’s reason for the motion’s approval was in order to have the government give up the plan entirely and demand the unconditional closure of the U.S. base.

Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko, however, suggested that he will keep the two ministers in office.