Government prearranges fake questions at 'town meeting'

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Government prearranges fake questions at 'town meeting'
Akahata, editorial (excerpts)

The government and ruling parties intend to forcibly enact within the current Diet session a bill to adversely revise the Fundamental Law of Education.

At this juncture, the Japanese Communist Party in the Diet revealed that the government had people asking pre-scripted questions in support of the government bill at a "town meeting" held in Aomori Prefecture on September 2.

Town meetings are organized by the government ostensibly with the aim of hearing questions and opinions from the public. However, the government went so far as to give chosen questioners scripts that were advantageous to the government.
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This is nothing but a dirty trick to manipulate public opinion using government power.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and Education Minister Ibuki Bunmei have been trying to shift the government responsibility for education problems such as bullying in schools to a lack of "normative consciousness" of individual teachers, schools, and boards of education.

However, this fake question issue shows that it is the government that completely lacks "normative consciousness."

Government manipulation of public opinion is tantamount to state control.

The most serious problem of the government bill is that it completely alters the basic purpose of education from the present "perfection of the human character of each child" to "fostering human resources that are obedient to the state."

The fake questions by which the government tried to influence the public into following the state policy clearly reveals the aim of the government bill.
- Akahata, November 7, 2006