Parliament on May 13 passed a bill to keep certain tax revenues earmarked for road building for 10 years from this fiscal year through a revote by the ruling parties in the House of Representatives, overriding the rejection of the bill by the opposition-controlled Upper House and putting an end to the protracted road tax row with the opposition camp.

Prior to the vote, however, the Cabinet endorsed a policy that stipulates the end of specifying the use of road-related tax revenues from fiscal 2009 to show that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's earlier proposal to free up the revenues for general expenditures stands firm.

The revote, held during a Lower House plenary session, came after the opposition-controlled House of Councilors rejected the bill May 12. The bill first passed the Lower House on March 13.

Instead of immediately submitting a censure motion against Fukuda, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is expected to step up its attacks on the government and the ruling parties in Parliament over issues of public concern such as the new health insurance system for the elderly.

Under constitutional provisions, a bill can become law after it passes through the Lower House for a second time with a two-thirds majority of the members present in the event the Upper House rejects it.

It is the third time the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party has resorted to a Lower House revote to pass bills it deems key since the opposition parties took control of the Upper House following an election last July.