Legislators Friday entered the final phase of a long, grinding battle to pass a law that would authorize Japanese soldiers to join United Nations peacekeeping operations.
A plenary session of the lower house convened, and opposition politicians immediately launched a filibustering campaign likely to drag out through the weekend.The watered-down measure has been approved by the upper house and will become law when approved by the lower house, where a Liberal Democratic Party majority virtually guarantees passage.
The legislation permits the dispatch of Japanese soldiers overseas for the first time since World War II but restricts them to non-combat duties.
However, the Social Democratic Party, the nation's largest opposition grouping, and the Communists have staunchly resisted any move to send soldiers overseas, citing Japan's "peace constitution," which bans the threat or use of force in settling international disputes.
The two parties filed several no-confidence motions, and opposition politicians made good on threats to do the "cow walk" - a filibuster in which they move at a snail's pace to cast their votes. Japanese media predicted the bill won't be passed until late Sunday night.
The plenary session was expected to meet late into the night, and Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa canceled a trip to Rio de Janeiro for the Earth Summit so that he could be present during deliberations.