A parliamentary vote of no confidence in the cabinet of the Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, was suspended in uproar last night after a member of the ruling coalition threw water from a glass at jeering opposition members.
The unpopular Mr Mori was likely to survive the vote, however, and smother an inter-party revolt which had threatened to tear asunder the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Opposition hopes of ousting Mr Mori were apparently scotched when LDP renegade heavyweights, Mr Koichi Kato and Mr Taku Yamasaki, made a sudden and humiliating about-turn before the no-confidence debate, telling their followers to abstain from the ballot rather than vote against their party leader. Mr Mori was relieved, but also repentant. "I regret having caused concern to many people," he said.
But his troubles are far from over. His seven-month reign has been marked by a series of verbal blunders and two cabinet resignations. Over 70 per cent of voters disapprove of his government, according to opinion polls.