Three ruling parties reject motion to vote on resolution to oust Suzuki Muneo from parliament

The three ruling coalition parties on March 20 rejected an opposition motion to put a resolution urging Suzuki Muneo to resign from parliament to a vote in the House of Representatives.

Thus, the ruling parties avoided expressing their position and allowed Suzuki, who allegedly used his influence to meddle in Foreign Ministry affairs, to maintain his seat in the Diet.

Four opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, argued that Suzuki's resignation from the Diet is essential to restore political ethics and criticized the ruling parties for ignoring the authority of parliament by blocking the resignation resolution.

JCP Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo at a news conference on the same day stated that the ruling parties' rejection is an underhanded tactic of evading their responsibility. He said that they opted to hush up the resolution to avoid the people's severe criticism in the event of their having to publicly vote against the resignation resolution in a plenary session.

Shii said that Suzuki is suspected not only of graft in connection with government-funded assistance programs for the Russian-held four northern islands, but also of arranging backstage negotiations with Russia over the territorial question which has an important bearing on Japan's national sovereignty. This position, which is different from what the Japanese government has stated, harms Japan's national interests, and these suspicious aspects are clearly incompatible with Suzuki's membership in the Diet, Shii said.

Shii added that the JCP will make further efforts to summon Suzuki to appear before the Diet again under oath. "We will submit a new resolution if a new problem comes out," he added. (end)