TOKYO —

Seven opposition parties plan to file a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in the upper house to block passage of the proposed consumption tax hike bill.

The seven parties include Ichiro Ozawa’s People’s Life First, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and Your Party, and three others.

However, the two major opposition parties—the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party—have not joined the group. Instead, they have suggested they will file their own no-confidence motion if Noda and the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) do not call for a vote on the consumption tax and social security reform bills in the Diet by the end of next week.

Noda told a news conference that he remains committed to the consumption tax and social security reform bills and will fight any no-confidence motion.

The bills were hammered out in cross-party talks between the DPJ, LDP and New Komeito, without the input of the smaller opposition parties. 

Noda has said that the end of August is a better time to submit the bills for a vote.

DPJ Secretary-General Azuma Koshiishi said Friday that the government wants to hold deliberations on two other bills—one to issue deficit-covering bonds and one on electoral reform—before having the consumption tax bill put to a vote in the upper house, Saniei Shimbun reported. 

Japan Today

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  MrsT1 at Aug. 04, 2012 - 08:44AM JST

  Who cares if the Opposition parties have no confidence in the ruling party's leader? The people pick the party, the party picks their leader, the opposition loses. I shouldn't even read politics about Japan, it just makes me frustrated.

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  smithinjapan at Aug. 04, 2012 - 12:53PM JST

  Geez, and after he reshuffled the cabinet AGAIN just to mollify the clowns in opposition! Anyway, as if we didn't see this coming (deserved or not).

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  edojin at Aug. 04, 2012 - 01:17PM JST

  Perhaps Noda will be forced to dissolve the Parliament so that the cry babies can have yet another election. If so, this time around I wish the voters of Japan would get rid of ALL of those in the Diet and put in a new crowd. Perhaps a bunch of new faces and new blood could get this country moving forward again.

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  BertieWooster at Aug. 04, 2012 - 02:30PM JST

  I wish the voters of Japan would get rid of ALL of those in the Diet and put in a new crowd. Perhaps a bunch of new faces and new blood could get this country moving forward again.

  Hear! Hear! Brother Edojin,

  Get this toadying load of losers out!

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  kazetsukai at Aug. 04, 2012 - 05:54PM JST

  Political parties are "parties" for those professing to "represent" their so called constituents, when in actuality they are trying to further their own agendas which are not necessarily that of the people or their own party, even. For too many it is just a smaller stage for a larger stage to be able to grab glory, power and wealth for themselves.

  I have yet to see or hear from the constituents of the various parties to truly voice their concerns and opinions. It is a case of reversed representation where the party leaders "declare" an issue or objective they "supposedly" represent and thereby "buy" the votes needed to get and stay in office to keep or gain more power. So therefore, the sorry state of Japanese political parties actually represent the sorry state of the lack of concern and involvement of the Japanese people.

  Interestingly, Noda, seems to be one of the few that have some semblance of being a "leader" with some "initiative" in this messy political climate. Any effort to replace him while there is no visible "results" from his tenure, does not make sense.

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  BertieWooster at Aug. 04, 2012 - 10:58PM JST

  Of course, getting this toadying load of losers out means the next group of toadying losers will be in!

  "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!"

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  Michael Craig at Aug. 05, 2012 - 12:33AM JST

  Perhaps Noda will be forced to dissolve the Parliament so that the cry babies can have yet another election. If so, this time around I wish the voters of Japan would get rid of ALL of those in the Diet and put in a new crowd. Perhaps a bunch of new faces and new blood could get this country moving forward again.

  Next General Election, Japan should elect a woman as Prime Minister. So far, he only lady in charge of a party is the SDP's Mizuho Fukushima.

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  BertieWooster at Aug. 05, 2012 - 07:46PM JST

  Michael,

  Next General Election, Japan should elect a woman as Prime Minister. So far, he only lady in charge of a party is the SDP's Mizuho Fukushima.

  Japan doesn't elect a Prime Minister.

  The Japanese people elect a party. And the party chooses its leader.

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  Ben Jack at Aug. 06, 2012 - 07:44PM JST

  Japan doesn't elect a Prime Minister.

  That is the problem in a nutshell.