Japan’s lower house of parliament voted down a no-confidence motion submitted against the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.
It was submitted by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) a day after the prime minister said he was unequivocally not planning to imminently dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap election.
The CDPJ in the motion against Kishida’s cabinet had taken aim at the prime minister for being unable to explain how key policies would be funded. Such policies included controversial, hefty spending plans by Japan to boost its defense capabilities, as well as expenditure to counter the country’s rapidly declining birthrate.
Kishida had already suggested a day earlier that the submission of a no-confidence motion would be relatively useless and would by no means be the impetus to call a snap election during the ongoing Diet session through next Wednesday.
If the motion were approved, however, the chamber would be dissolved within 10 days, or all cabinet members would have to step down under Japan’s constitution.
But as was the case here, every no-confidence motion submitted in the last 10 years or so has been voted down in the lower house, which is under control of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.
