livedoor scandal2

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

JCP says deregulation policy is wrong and needs to be reviewed

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on an NHK political debate program on January 29 maintained that the government policy of relaxing the regulations on business corporations is wrong and needs to be reviewed. The debate, attended by secretaries of the ruling and opposition parties, was the first since the current Diet session began.

Ichida said that the Livedoor affair, the falsification of quake-resistance data, and BSE high-risk material in U.S. beef are some of the examples of the failure of the government policy.

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Takebe Tsutomu, who had praised former Livedoor President Horie Takafumi, was absent from the debate program. Ichida criticized him for his absence, saying that presenting different opinions for the public to judge is what democracy is all about."

The ruling parties defended the government policy of deregulation in the name of "structural reform," saying, "There is no relation between the policy and the Livedoor scandal. The policy of deregulation and privatization is generally correct." They also said that allowing the private sector to issue building permits led to an increase in the number of inspectors, denying the link between the deregulation policy and data falsification.

Hatoyama Yukio, Democratic Party of Japan secretary-general, said, "Deregulation in itself is good. Going too far will cause problems."

Ichida said, "Virtually abolishing regulations on stock trading under the revised commercial law allowed Livedoor's stock splits and equity swaps using a subsidiary investment fund. The 1998 adverse revision of the Building Standards Law is the background of data falsification." Ichida said that the deregulation policy needs to be reviewed.
- Akahata, January 30, 2006