Japanese PM livid as opposition says he was drunk in parliament

[underpants]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050620/od_afp/japanpoliticsoffbeat_050620144120

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose relations with the opposition are testy at the best of times, was furious after coming under a new accusation -- that he was drunk in parliament.

"I didn't have a single drop of alcohol that day," he said of the allegations by the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) over Friday's late-night parliament session.

"The DPJ has become such an irresponsible political party. I am puzzled why they lie," Koizumi told reporters before heading to South Korea.

On Friday, opposition members refused to vote on a motion by Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to extend the parliament session on the grounds that ruling party lawmakers were "red-faced" and "intoxicated."

[smirkymonkey]

1. He should move to the US - it's perfectly acceptable for a head

of state to live out his entire term in a drunken stupor. :evilgrin:

[underpants]

2. There it is

I was wondering how long that would take. :bounce:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Now you're talking! The more drunken loser heads of state, the merrier!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Koizumi has picked up another of Bush's bad habits:bribing countries

10:05pm (UK)
Dominica Denies Selling Whaling Vote for Aid from Japan

Dominica denied it has sold its vote to overturn a commercial whaling ban in exchange for aid from Japan, an official said today, as countries gathered for the International Whaling Commission meeting in South Korea.

In recent years, small Caribbean countries have backed Japan on the vast majority of whaling votes, especially attempts to overturn the ban.

This year, “Dominica will vote for the sustainable use of a resource if it is in abundance,” said the former British Caribbean colony’s chief fisheries officer Harold Guiste.
(snip)

Greenpeace, the Amsterdam-based environmental organisation, has accused Japan of buying the votes of needy nations.
Japan “offers fisheries aid to poor coastal countries in exchange for their support of Japan’s whaling policies. Kind of like throwing lunch money around to avoid being the loser in the school yard”, Greenpeace said, in a July 2004 report.Greenpeace alleged that Japan had “bought 16 friends at the IWC in this way,” including six Caribbean countries, the Solomon Islands, and Guinea.

In Dominica, where tourists go to watch humpback whales frolic offshore, the environment minister resigned in 2000 to protest policies he said were bought with Japanese aid.
(snip/...)

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4718089
(Free registration is required)

[Spirochete]

5. Too bad he didn't throw up on the Chimp

Paybacks for his daddy, and all....