DPJ finds it hard to persuade rebels not to boycott budget-related bills

TOKYO, March 2 Kyodo - The Democratic Party of Japan found it difficult Wednesday to persuade some of the 16 lawmakers of the ruling party who boycotted a vote on the fiscal 2011 budget in parliament not to do so for the vote on budget-related bills.
During one-to-one meetings, the DPJ leadership tried to persuade eight of the 16 not to act against the party line any longer following their abstention from voting in the House of Representatives controlled by the ruling coalition, according to the lawmakers.
Despite their abstentions, the budget cleared the lower house earlier this week. Its passage in the opposition-dominated upper house, however, is expected to be a bigger challenge as the government scrambles to secure the votes of all DPJ members.
Osamu Fujimura, the DPJ's acting secretary general, urged the eight he met not to take any rebellious steps in parliament voting.
One of them, Tamiko Kasahara, told reporters afterward that every action she takes comes with ''her readiness to deal with it'' -- an indication that the rebellious actions could lead to severe punishment.
None of the others gave any categorical answer as to whether they will heed the call from the DPJ leadership.
Fujimura will attempt to meet with the others Thursday.
If the 16 lawmakers do not vote in favor of the budget-related bills, parliamentary passage of the bills will be even less likely since the opposition is against them. The lawmakers are allies of DPJ veteran Ichiro Ozawa and launched a revolt in mid-February calling for current DPJ head and Ozawa's rival, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, to resign.
The DPJ decided Tuesday to suspend the party membership of Koichiro Watanabe, regarded as the leader of the rebellion, for six months, and reprimand the 15 other lower house members.