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On June 2, the opposition parties submitted a no-confidence motion to the plenary session of the House of Representatives. The motion was defeated by a large margin, with 152 votes in favour and 293 votes against.
DPJ Diet member Kazunori Yamanoi made a speech against the motion. After expressing his condolences and sympathy for the victims and the survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Yamanoi stressed that politicians should now be working together determinedly to deal with various urgent issues, including recovery and reconstruction efforts following the disaster, the resolution of the nuclear accident, and the rejuvenation of Japan.
Yamanoi posed three questions in relation to the submission of the no-confidence motion. The first was “Why now?” He emphasized that the motion had been submitted just as discussions between the ruling and opposition parties in the Special Committee on Reconstruction regarding the basic law on disaster reconstruction had reached an agreement, and the likely date for enactment of the basic law had been established. He said that today, the House of Representatives ought to be voting to approve the basic law so that it could be sent to the House of Councillors.
Secondly, Yamanoi asked, “Is there a specific alternative?” pointing out that the opposition has not set forth a specific vision for what they intend to do going forward. He said that the disaster response of the Kan Cabinet could not be awarded a full ten out of ten, but that changing the Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet and dissolving the House of Representatives to hold elections would delay disaster reconstruction. He emphasised “It is the earnest desire of the survivors of the disaster that the no-confidence motion is rejected and we put an end [to our differences] so that the ruling and opposition parties can cooperate to speed up disaster reconstruction.”
Thirdly, Yamanoi commented, “What about the framework for the administration should the no-confidence motion be passed?” He criticised the opposition parties for neglecting their responsibility toward the survivors of the disaster in submitting the no-confidence motion without setting forth a concrete response.
Yamamoi lambasted the stance of the opposition in engaging in political infighting without considering the livelihood of the people, saying, “Who should politics work for? It is for the people, for the vulnerable. If we abandon the survivors in this time of national crisis then the Diet has no reason for being.” He ended his speech by urging the House to join together in pooling their strength toward disaster reconstruction, with a politics that “puts the lives of survivors first”.
In the meeting of DPJ Diet members belonging to the House of Representatives prior to the plenary session, DPJ President, Prime Minister Naoto Kan stated, “I would like to express my regrets for inadequacies in the response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident.” He went on to stress that he would first prioritise the response to the disaster and the nuclear accident. Kan urged the assembled DPJ Diet members to unite in defeating the no-confidence motion, saying: “I would like the younger generation to take over various responsibilities once matters have been resolved to a certain degree and I have fulfilled my role to some extent.”
Prime Minister Kan set forth the “three objectives” of (1) exerting body and soul to make every effort toward recovery and reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident, (2) acting based on the basic principle that the DPJ must not be destroyed, (3) ensuring that there would be no reversion back from the current DPJ-centred administration to an LDP administration. He pledged that these three points would form the basic for his ongoing actions.
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