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Fukuda wins trust vote

SINGAPORE: Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Thursday won a decisive vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, warding off calls for his resignation and a snap general election.

Amid the political drama punctuated by a diplomatic interlude, he won support from the visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who declared Canberra “has a strong friend and partner in Prime Minister Fukuda” on the global stage.

The vote in favour of Mr. Fukuda in the powerful lower chamber of the Diet was 336-10. The main opposition parties — the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Social Democratic Party, and People’s New Party — boycotted the vote, in line with their pledge to stay away from the Diet to protest against Mr. Fukuda’s continuance as Prime Minister in the face of plummeting ratings in opinion polls.

The opposition Communist Party of Japan, however, participated in the vote, and was voted against the government. The opposition, in moving the censure motion, cited his healthcare insurance plan, seen to be unduly harsh on senior citizens.

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