Japan's upper house passes motion against PM

TOKYO - The Japanese House of Councilors, or the upper house, on Wednesday passed a censure motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, accusing him of having skipped several parliament sessions.

The motion, which is non-binding, was filed by a few of small opposition parties after the prime minister and his cabinet ministers refused to attend the chamber's budget committee sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

The absence was triggered by the negative attitude of the upper house towards a no-confidence motion against the speaker of the chamber submitted by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its ally, the New Komeito Party.

Earlier Wednesday, the upper house vetoed the LDP's motion against its president.

The major opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, voted for the censure motion against Abe, while the LDP and the New Komeito Party voted against the motion.

The opposition's move came ahead the upper house election scheduled for July and the censure is not expected to prompt the prime minister to resign.