FY 2007 budget bill expanding gaps between rich and poor enacted

The national budget for fiscal 2007, which was compiled for the first time by the Abe Shinzo cabinet, was enacted after approved at the plenary session of the House of Councillors on March 26 with the support of the Liberal Democratic and Komei Parties. The Japanese Communist Party voted against the budget bill.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi in a press conference on the day criticized the budget for helping to increase poverty and expand the gap between the rich and the poor.

In the Diet debate, the JCP argued for reducing poverty and social disparities and against undermining the basis of local economies and civil society; criticizing the moves to reverse interpretations of history; preventing an adverse revision of the Constitution; and exposing the ties between politicians and moneyed interests.

Ichida said, “From now on, it will be important to wage a struggle to prevent the bill to establish procedures for constitutional revision from being enacted.” In addition, he also explained the party’s Diet policy to oppose the bill to facilitate the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan and the bill to extend for two years the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, as well as the struggle against mal-revision of labor- and employment-related laws and education-related laws to put into practice the adversely revised Fundamentals of Education Law. Based on public demands, the JCP will debate on these issues by revealing the reality of the situation and making alternative proposals.      - Akahata, March 27, 2007