Controversial ‘self-support' law for the disabled extended

Japan Press Weekly

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

Controversial ‘self-support' law for the disabled extended

The House of Councilors plenary session on December 3 enacted a bill to extend the "self-support" law for the disabled by the majority vote of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei, and the Your Party. The Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party voted against the bill.

Early this year, however, the DPJ government was expressing its remorse for impairing disabled persons' dignity with the "self-support" law in a reached-consensus with plaintiffs with disabilities in lawsuits. The welfare minister signed a consensus document stating that the "beneficiary-pays-system" under the "self-support" law should be scrapped without delay.

Prior to the Upper House plenary session, Japanese Communist Party representative Tamura Tomoko during its committee meeting criticized the government for leaving the "beneficiary-pays-system" intact although it had agreed to abolish it.

The bill to extend the "self-support" law was submitted on the final day of the extraordinary Diet session and was railroaded through with little discussion and without holding any hearings on the bill from the disabled. Tamura stated, "The government is trampling on disabled persons' rights."

- Akahata, December 4, 2010