Prime minister doesn't care about working people's hardships

"Mr. Koizumi does not care about people's suffering . He does not present any plans for solving real problems." This is what Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo stated concerning Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's general policy speech on September 26.

Addressing the extraordinary session of the Diet, Prime Minister Koizumi stressed that the second Koizumi Cabinet will hold fast to the "structural reform" policy, including the speedy disposal of banks' non-performing loans.

Koizumi showed his indifference to people's hardships when he gave a very optimistic view that "the results of structural reform are increasingly apparent by the fact that the economy has been growing in real terms for the last year and a half, and the nominal growth rate has also turned positive."

Although he promised to "conclude the issue of non-performing loans in fiscal 2004," he did not present any specific measures to deal with unemployment or bankruptcies that are likely to increase as a result of the disposal of bad loans.

Apparently with the coming House of Representatives general election in mind, the prime minister tried hard to sell his "structural reforms", including the privatization of the postal services in 2005 and the privatization of the four expressway-related public corporations. Koizumi also promised to submit to the next ordinary session of the Diet opening in January a pension reform bill that would ask people to pay more for less benefits. He also promised to cut local government subsidies by 4 trillion yen by fiscal 2006.

On foreign policy, reiterating that "the Japan-United States alliance and international coordination are the foundation of Japan's foreign policy," the prime minister specifically asked the legislators to enact the bill to extend the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law, which expires on November 1st. "Japan will make an appropriate contribution, including the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel and civilians," he added.

Asked to comment on Koizumi's speech, JCP Chair Shii stated:

"The prime minister insists that his 'structural reforms' are beginning to produce results, but contrary to the rosy picture he paints, the working people's real income is decreasing and the unemployment rate remains above five percent. Many people are killing themselves because of hardships. Mr. Koizumi is directly responsible for these problems, but shows no sense of responsibility regarding how to solve them. He is not qualified to be a prime minister."

On foreign policy, the JCP chair noted that the prime minister said nothing about the United Nations. "This is a manifestation of a lack of willingness to work for building an international order of peace with the United Nations at the center," Shii added. (end)