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Japan's opposition parties return to parliament after boycott

TOKYO: Japan's opposition parties returned to parliament on Wednesday after agreeing to abandon their unprecedented two-week protest boycott.

Members of all three opposition parties were seen sitting in their seats as the televised plenary session began.

The opposition parties had been boycotting the parliament to protest an alleged lack of debate over a law to reduce the number of lawmakers in the lower house of the parliament, or Diet.

The prime minister's Liberal Democratic Party and its allies, the Liberal Party and Buddhist-backed komeito party, enacted the law February 2 in spite of the Diet boycott.

But the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan accepted a compromise Tuesday which gave them a greater input in deciding the Diet timetable and more opportunities to question Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Two smaller opposition parties Ñ the Social Democratic Party and Japan Communist PartyÑ rejected the deal but agreed to drop their boycott of the parliament anyway.

Obuchi welcomed the return of opposition parties.

"It is gratifying deliberations on the budget are now expected to proceed smoothly," he told reporters before the session opened.

The government has said it will press ahead with efforts to pass a record 84.99 trillion yen (780 billion dollar) budget for the financial year starting April 1. AFP