Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows his head as the supplementary budget was enacted on Feb. 6 KYODO PHOTO

According to the House of Councilors secretariat, no extra budget had been enacted in the absence of the opposition parties since 1966.

The opposition camp -- which is demanding Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa resign for calling women "birth-giving machines" -- has refused to participate in budget deliberations since the week before.

But it agreed later on Feb. 6 to rejoin Diet proceedings on Feb. 7, when the House of Representatives Budget Committee was to debate on the fiscal 2007 budget, opposition party officials said.

Ichiro Ozawa, head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, met on the evening of Feb. 6 with Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima and People's New Party leader Tamisuke Watanuki to finalize the decision to end the boycott.

The supplementary budget includes funds earmarked for disaster relief and prevention measures, as well as support for the disabled.

The week before, amid the opposition boycott, the governing coalition passed the extra budget with a majority vote in the Lower House.

The coalition consists of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's Liberal-Democratic Party and its partner New Komeito.

The governing coalition intends to have the fiscal 2007 budget enacted before the current fiscal year ends on March 31.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 10, 2007
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