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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

'Small government' will only increase people's burden: JCP Ichida

In TV debates aired live on October 16, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi criticized the ruling parties for calling for "small government" as the pretext for shifting heavier burdens onto the public by cutting government expenditures on welfare services and education.

Concerning the Liberal Democratic Party's call for a five-percent cut in the number of government employees, Ichida said that the number of Japan's government employees per one thousand population is only 50 percent, 33 percent, and 40 percent of Britain, France, and the Untied States respectively.

The government's "small government" plan is contrary to the Constitution's Article 25 that provides that the government must support the citizens' "right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living," Ichida stated.

Referring to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's partial privatization that made disaster relief measures in the recent hurricanes difficult, Ichida said, "A 'small government' policy is being called into question even in the United States."

"If the government is serious about eliminating wasteful spending, senior bureaucrats, Public Security Investigation Agency employees, and the Self-Defense Forces (with over 250,000 members) should be the first to be cut," Ichida said.

As regards the proposed abolition or consolidation of eight public financial organizations, Ichida demanded that the Development Bank of Japan that helps in wasteful public projects be closed and that the People's Finance Corporation and the Smaller Business Finance Corporation supporting small- and medium-sized companies with low financing rates be preserved so that their businesses can survive at a time when major banks are reluctant to lend them money. -- Akahata, October 17, 2005