Abe on defensive over anti-terror bill after accusations of stifling debate

TOKYO — Controversial legislation to criminalize the planning of serious crimes was enacted by Japan’s parliament on Thursday despite vociferous calls from opposition parties and the public.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition used its majority so the amendment to the law could clear a vote in an upper house plenary session after the Abe-led bloc controversially bypassed an upper house committee vote.

The move allowed the ruling camp to dodge the regular legislative procedures necessary for the legislation to be enacted and effectively forced the bill into law without having to extend the current Diet session.

The government’s tactic, while technically permissible, runs against the conventional legislative process and is rarely used in parliament.

The main opposition Democratic Party and three other opposition parties united in trying to impede the bill and on Wednesday evening submitted a no-confidence motion against the Abe Cabinet.

The motion was subsequently rejected in a plenary session of the lower house in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Prior to this, a censure

We will uphold the law in an appropriate and effective way to protect people’s lives.” Shinzo Abe, Japan’s PM

motion lodged against Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda and a motion to dismiss the head of the upper house judicial affairs committee were both voted down on Wednesday.

Opposition parties, civic groups and ordinary citizens have staunchly opposed the bill, which has been scrapped three times before.

The government said the law, which criminalizes the planning of serious offenses, is necessary to prevent terrorism ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

It doesn’t give police new powers, but critics say the legislation could be abused to allow wiretapping of innocent citizens and threaten privacy and freedom of expression