Tokyo, Nov 19: In a post-election formality, Junichiro Koizumi easily won approval from the lower house of parliament today to stay on as Japan's Prime Minister. But Koizumi faces a reinvigorated opposition vowing to grill him on his increasingly unpopular plan to send troops to Iraq and efforts to rekindle the world's second-largest economy. The lower house vote was to be followed by one in the less-powerful upper house, which would finalise Koizumi's re-election. Because the ruling coalition headed by Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party controls both chambers, he was expected to win with a comfortable margin.
Koizumi, who has vowed to carry out his plans to privatise government agencies and other economic reforms, is expected to retain his entire 17-member cabinet. The cabinet resigned en masse earlier in the day, paving the way for the election.
The votes were held in a special session of Parliament called to select new leaders following nationwide elections earlier this month to fill the 480 seats in the lower house.
Despite the ease of today's formalities, Koizumi faces a rough ride over the nine days his coalition has planned for Parliament's special session.
The largest opposition bloc, which boosted its strength to 177 seats from 137 in the Nov. 9 polls, has promised to derail the government's plans to send troops to assist the reconstruction of Iraq. Bureau Report