Governor Ishihara breaks his election promises

   Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro in his policy speech to the Metropolitan Assembly on September 19 made clear that he reneged on his campaign promises made in the April gubernatorial election, including promises of Metropolitan residential tax cuts for low income residents.

   He also avoided touching on his election promise of providing children under 15 years old with free medical services.

   At the same time, Ishihara gave top priority to bringing the Olympic Games to Tokyo and showed zeal for pushing ahead with his large-scale urban development plan that includes the construction of three beltways under the pretext of hosting the Olympics.

   About 500 people from labor unions, including the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren)-affiliated Tokyo Regional Council of Trade Unions, and organizations active in areas of welfare services and education held a rally in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office on the same day demanding that the governor fulfill his promises.

   A Pensioners’ Union representative took the microphone and said health and living conditions of the elderly are in crisis. A Tokyo Metropolitan Teachers and Staff Union representative pointed out that the disparities among schools have increased due to the introduction of a system in which students can choose which school to attend as well as the introduction of a national academic achievement test, and called for reducing the class size to no more than 30 students that all prefectures except Tokyo have implemented.

   JCP Metropolitan Assembly Members’ Group Chair Watanabe Yasunobu demanded that the Metropolitan government use the fund of 200 billion yen reserved for the Olympics in order to meet various pressing demands of residents.

- Akahata, September 20, 2007