2nd extra budget passes lower house despite opposition protest

TOKYO, Jan. 13 Kyodo -
A second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 aimed at reinvigorating the
economy cleared the House of Representatives with majority support from the
ruling parties Tuesday despite the opposition bloc's protests over an unpopular
cash handout plan included in the budget proposal.

The 4.79 trillion yen extra budget for the 12-month period through March and
related bills passed the lower house's plenary session with the backing of the
Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, and
were sent to the House of Councillors.
From the opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party
and the People's New Party walked out of the plenary session when the voting
took place as a means of protest at the extra budget.
The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties now moves to the
opposition-controlled upper house, where the main opposition DPJ plans to
boycott deliberations on the budget proposal for the time being.
After the lower house session, Prime Minister Taro Aso said he hopes the extra
budget and the related bills will be deliberated and voted on swiftly at the
upper house, while expressing the government's plan to submit the fiscal 2009
budget to parliament Monday.
''As the possibility for the Diet to pass (the budgets) within this fiscal year
has heightened, I will instruct related ministers, including the internal
affairs and communications minister, to prepare to implement'' economic
measures swiftly, Aso told reporters.
Following approval in the lower house, the second extra budget will clear the
upper house after 30 days even if the upper chamber opposes its passage, under
a stipulation in the Constitution concerning budget proposals.
But the ruling parties may have to hold a second vote in the more powerful
lower house to pass the bills related to the extra budget, as the stipulation
applies to budgets, not proposed legislation.
To enact a bill other than a budget, the ruling parties can hold a revote in
the lower chamber to pass it if the upper house rejects it or holds no vote
within 60 days of receiving the bill.
Meanwhile, the DPJ has judged that it will be difficult for the party to gain
voters' understanding if it continues boycotting deliberations, according to
the party's senior upper house member.
Based on such a view, the DPJ is seeking to accept holding deliberations in the
upper house when it submits a bill to the chamber to amend the second extra
budget to remove the cash handout program, while continuing to study the timing
of submitting the amendment bill.
The DPJ is opposed to the 2 trillion yen cash handout, which it sees as a
vote-buying tactic by the ruling bloc.
The ruling parties aim to have the government deliver policy speeches to the
Diet either on Jan. 23 or 26, while seeking to have the fiscal 2009 budget
clear the lower house by Feb. 20.
If opposition parties delay deliberations on the second extra budget in the
upper house for a long time, the ruling parties would eye holding deliberations
on the second extra budget and the fiscal 2009 budget concurrently in both
chambers.
Former administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe, who quit the LDP
earlier in the day, left the lower house plenary session before the voting. He
has said he would show his ''will to protest'' against the cash handout plan.
Kenta Matsunami, parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office and an LDP
lawmaker, also walked out of the session, telling reporters that the 2 trillion
yen allotted for the cash handout program should be used for medical services
and employment.
Matsunami later submitted his resignation as parliamentary secretary to Chief
Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, who accepted it. But Matsunami denied having
any intention of leaving the LDP, saying there is no common ground between him
and Watanabe.
Prior to the plenary session, the second extra budget passed the Budget
Committee of the lower house with majority approval by the ruling parties.
Lawmakers of three opposition parties -- the DPJ, the SDP and the PNP --
refused to vote, while the Japanese Communist Party voted against it.
The related bills also passed three other lower house committees by a majority
from the ruling parties.
At the budget committee, Aso suggested his intention to compile an extra budget
for fiscal 2009 at an early time if additional economic measures are needed.
''We must place priority on the economy in the short term,'' Aso said, adding
that the government will observe fiscal discipline after the economy recovers.
The second extra budget includes support measures for households, small
businesses and regional economies hit hard by the current economic slowdown. It
also features the 2.04 trillion yen cash handout, under which a minimum of
12,000 yen is to be disbursed per person.
==Kyodo