Government should set goal to end poverty: JCP Koike

Japan Press Weekly

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

Government should set goal to end poverty: JCP Koike

Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira on June 27 took part in a discussion on the issue of poverty that was broadcast live on TV Asahi and said, "The government must have a clear national targets for the eradication of poverty."

Asked by the moderator if we are better off today, Koike answered, "The situation has become so serious that more than 1,000 people at a time stood in line at a soup kitchen in a Tokyo park and it has become difficult for volunteer groups to ensure adequate relief supplies."

In pointing out the reason why the poverty rate is increasing, Koike said, "The system to maintain the minimum living standards, including the minimum wages, the basic pension and public welfare assistance, under Article 25 of the Constitution, is being undermined."

A participant from the Liberal Democratic Party tried to defend the government by saying, "The government has had a supplementary budgets enacted." However, he soon came under criticism from other participants over the abolition of additional welfare benefits for single-mother households with dependents and other government measures that have increased the poverty rate.

Koike criticized the government for failing to compile and publish estimates of the number of extremely low-income households after 1965.

An expert also said, "The government doesn't even ascertain the country's poverty rate. It should have a goal to reduce that rate."

"However, to solve the issue of poverty, we need a stronger economy and international competitiveness," one of the attendees said.

To this, Koike said, "International competitiveness can be increased through expanding domestic demand. So, the government's goal must be to reduce the poverty rate."

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On June 28, a symposium was held in Tokyo to discuss the issue of "tent villages" that spread from Tokyo's Hibiya Park to more than 210 different locations throughout the country.

The leader of the tent village movement, Yuasa Makoto, stressed the significance of these "villages" by saying, "Through our activities, we were able to question the public about the ongoing dysfunctional safety nets and collapse of the job market."

Yuasa said that it is necessary to radically revise the Worker Dispatch Law, increase the minimum wage, and improve the public assistance program, and called on the approximate 500 participants of the symposium to work together to build a better society.

- Akahata, June 28 & 29, 2009