No-confidence motion against Japan's PM fails
A no-confidence motion against Japan's Prime Minister has been defeated.
It was the second time in four months that the country's four major opposition parties submitted a no-confidence motion against Yoshiro Mori.
The vote was easily defeated because Mr Mori's ruling coalition has a majority of seats in Parliament's 480-seat lower house.
The opposition managed 192 votes for the motion, to 274 against it.
Even so, Mori's support among the public and within his own party has crashed over the past several months and his days in office appear to be numbered.
Yukio Hatoyama, who heads the largest opposition party, the Democrats, commented: "The people have already completely given up on Prime Minister Mori".
In a joint statement, the opposition parties blamed Mr Mori for failing to lift the economy and saying that Tokyo stock prices had fallen to their lowest levels in 15 years.
They also criticised him for scandals that have tarnished his one-year administration and called his leadership "confused".
The statement said: "We must get the country out of this critical situation as soon as possible, and restore the public's trust in their politicians".
Yoshiro Mori narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in November, after members of his own party who had threatened to vote against him backed down under pressure at the last minute.
