Second Koizumi Cabinet goes even further against people's wishes -- Akahata editorial, November 20Prime Minister Koizumi was reelected in the special session of the Diet that followed the House of Representatives general election. The Second Koizumi Cabinet has retained all of its previous cabinet members.
Before the opening of the special Diet session, the Liberal Democratic Party signed a merger agreement with the New Conservative Party and held a summit meeting with the Komei Party to agree to continue to work together as governing coalition partners. This marks the start of the first LDP-Komei coalition.
All LDP-Komei coalition
The merger agreement between the LDP and the New Conservative Party along with the LDP-Komei policy makes it clear that the previous undemocratic policies will be continued and pushed ahead.
The LDP-NCP merger agreement called for the enactment of a new constitution. In the general election, the LDP promised to begin taking steps toward a constitutional revision in 2005, but stopped short of calling for a new constitution to be written. The problem is that the LDP has clearly set forth its goal of a constitutional revision.
The merger agreement called for a national discussion with the view of reaching a consensus that the consumption tax revenue should be used to fund social services "in the near future". The agreement also called for the Fundamental Law of Education to be revised and for the Defense Agency to be promoted to a ministry.
The ruling coalition policies agreed upon between the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties make no direct reference to a constitutional revision or a consumption tax increase. However, it vaguely called for the establishment of a "fair and stable" pension system and for the "promotion of administrative and fiscal reforms", including the privatization of postal services. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry under its Minister Sakaguchi Chikara of the Komei Party has submitted a plan to adversely revise the pension system that would increase premiums by 1.5 times and greatly decrease benefits. All this shows that the LDP-Komei policy agreement is a declaration that the Second Koizumi Cabinet is committed to carrying out its undemocratic policies.
According to reports, in the LDP-Komei talks, Komei Party Chief Representative Kanzaki Takenori requested that the government should be circumspect in sending the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq. But, given the LDP-Komei agreement attaching importance to the "Japan-U.S. alliance and international cooperation", Kanzaki did not oppose the SDF dispatch.
Clearly, the second Koizumi Cabinet, a two-party coalition cabinet, is going against the voters' wishes as expressed in the general election.
The total number of seats the LDP and the Komei Party obtained in the general election was 275, down 12 from the pre-election number of the governing coalition partners combined. The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties were desperately trying to divert public attention from issues like the dispatch of the SDF to Iraq and a consumption tax increase. This is because of the public distrust of Prime Minister Koizumi's government.
Surveys that media conducted immediately after the general election show severe public criticism of the government. An Asahi Shimbun poll showed that the support rate for the Koizumi Cabinet dropped to 47 percent from the 59 percent before the election. In a Kyodo News agency survey, 47 percent of the respondents said an LDP-Komei coalition government is "not desirable'".
If the second Koizumi Cabinet pushes ahead with undemocratic policies, it will only increase contradictions with public demands.
Inability to talk to the nation
In an unusual move, the Special Session of the Diet decided on a short opening by a majority vote because the governing parties rejected the opposition parties' demand to hear the prime minister's policy speech and allow for questions by party representatives. The people cannot have any expectations for the new government which is unable to present its policies to the people.
The Japanese Communist Party will confront the Koizumi government by making efforts to realize what it promised voters to achieve, in particular to prevent the SDF from being dispatched to Iraq, stop the attempts to adversely revise the Constitution, and oppose an increase in the consumption tax rate. (end)