3 major laws enacted, N. Korean cargo inspection law now in focus+

TOKYO, June 19 Kyodo -
The Diet on Friday enacted three laws including an antipiracy law that had been
the main focus of the extended parliamentary session ahead of the House of
Representatives election, which must be held by this fall.

With the enactments, the government and the ruling parties are now aiming to
enact a new law to enable Japan to inspect North Korean cargo on the high seas
in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution, but the prospects for the
legislation remain uncertain as Prime Minister Taro Aso searches for the best
time to dissolve the lower house for the election.
On the timing of the dissolution, Aso told reporters, ''I will make a decision
eventually at an appropriate time as there are many bills left.''
On a Cabinet reshuffle, which some lawmakers in the ruling parties are calling
for, Aso said, ''There is nothing (with regard to a reshuffle) that I am
thinking about now.''
The three laws -- an antipiracy law, a revision to the national pension scheme
law and a tax system revision -- were enacted by two-thirds majority votes by
the ruling parties in revotes in the lower chamber after the opposition
rejected them in the upper house.
It is the first time since March that laws have been enacted through second
votes after being rejected by the opposition-controlled House of Councillors.
Such laws now total eight during the current Diet session.
Of five bills related to the supplementary budget for fiscal 2009 that the
government and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New
Komeito party aim to enact soon, three have now been enacted and the remaining
two are expected to clear the Diet on June 26.
With the enactments of the major laws, there is an emerging view that Aso could
dissolve the lower house on July 2 ahead of the July 12 Tokyo assembly
election, fearing that he might be forced to step down by fellow LDP members if
the party performs poorly in the Tokyo election, party sources said. A
dissolution of the lower house on July 2 would likely mean a general election
on Aug. 2, a Sunday.
Amid plunging support rates for the Cabinet, however, there are growing voices
within the LDP that Aso should not dissolve the lower house before seeing the
outcomes of the July 5 Shizuoka gubernatorial election and the Tokyo assembly
election, because if the LDP is defeated in the two regional elections, it
could lead to a similar result in the general election, the sources said.
Komeito, meanwhile, is demanding that a general election should not be held
before late August, they said.
The antipiracy law authorizes the Self-Defense Forces to protect any commercial
ship from pirates, regardless of its connection to Japan, in a bid to tackle
piracy in the waters off Somalia.
The revision to the national pension scheme law raises the state's financial
burden in the national pension scheme from one-third at present to one-half in
the face of ballooning pension payments accompanying the rapid aging of
Japanese society.
At present, state coffers provide one-third of the funds needed to operate the
government-run pension scheme, including benefit payments for all pensioners.
The remainder is mainly covered by pension premiums paid by future pensioners.
''This is an absolutely necessary reform in a bid to curb the increase in the
premium burden on younger generations and make the pension system sustainable
amid an aging society with a falling birthrate,'' Aso said in a statement.
''(The law) secures a balance between benefits and burdens in pension financing
for the long term,'' he added.
The revision to the tax system is part of the government stimulus measures,
which include tax cuts such as alleviating gift tax through the end of 2010 for
taxpayers purchasing homes.
==Kyodo