The DPJ has apparently managed to pull itself together enough to resume its doomed oposition to a new Anti-Terrorism special measures bill.  As expected the LDP has been more than willing to work with the DPJ to find  a mutually agreeable bill but the DPJ proves once more that you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink.

From the Yomuiri Shimbun: Ozawa refuses to budge on antiterror bill.

     Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Thursday was rebuffed by Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa over a request for the opposition party to cooperate in the adoption of a new antiterrorism bill at the current Diet session.

     Failure by the two leaders to reach an agreement on the government-sponsored bill aimed at resuming the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean has set the stage for the extension of the current Diet session, observers say.

     The Diet session, which had already been extended earlier this month, will end on Dec. 15. The government and the ruling parties are set to enter discussions on a plan to extend the session for a second time, government sources said.

     And of course the DPJ still can't get itself together enough to offer up an alternative either viable or not to the government's bill currently on offer.  They are in fact hinting that they might just ignore the issue entirely in the upper house, which would make it and their control of it completely irrelevant.

As detailed here also by the Yomuiri: Where are the alternatives?

     The Democratic Party of Japan, as the largest force in the House of Councillors, has a great role to play in helping administer state affairs. This is particularly significant under the current extraordinary power relationship in the Diet, with the opposition camp controlling the upper house and the ruling coalition holding an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives.

     To make matters worse, the DPJ has yet to submit to the Diet an alternative for the government's antiterrorism bill. Neither has the party presented realistic and specific international peacekeeping plans as a means of fighting terrorism. This attitude can be seen as the DPJ lacking any sense of responsibility.

     Ozawa has said it is necessary to uncover the whole truth about suspicions surrounding Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga and former Administrative Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya in connection with a scandal involving defense contractor Yamada Corp.

     Although doing so is important, the affair is unrelated to Japan's contribution to international peacekeeping activities and should not be used as a delay tool for Diet discussions on the new antiterrorism bill.

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