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On June 20, the seven opposition parties, including the DPJ, submitted a motion of no-confidence in Minister of the Environment Nobuteru Ishihara to the House of Representatives and in addition, six opposition parties (excluding the Japanese Communist Party) also submitted a motion calling for the dismissal of the Chair of the Committee on the Environment in the House of Representatives, Shintaro Ito.
The parties cited their reason for submitting a motion of no-confidence in Minister Ishihara as follows: “The Minister made comments regarding negotiations with the disaster-affected areas over building interim facilities to store soil contaminated by radiation following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Corporation’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station, stating, ‘it will ultimately be settled by money’. This is an outrageous and unforgiveable comment which tramples on the dignity of residents in the affected areas. We have no alternative but to judge that [Mr. Ishihara] totally lacks both the professional credentials and personal qualities needed as a minister of state.” With regard to the motion calling for the dismissal of Committee Chair Ito, they stated, “On the occasion of the Committee meeting on June 20, he suddenly changed the agenda which had been agreed between the ruling and opposition parties in the meeting of Committee executives held the previous day, unilaterally postponing the scheduled interpellation of Minister Ishihara. This is completely outrageous. It is impossible for committee deliberations to take place under such a Committee Chair.”
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