September 8, 2009
“Replace bureaucracy control with political leadership” is the catch phrase that was repeatedly used by the Democratic Party of Japan during the recent House of Representatives general election.
DPJ Secretary General Okada Katsuya on a post-election NHK debate program aired live on September 6 said, “The aim is to break away from the decision-making practices by special interest groups of Dietmembers and bureaucrats working together. It is necessary to do away with the structure in which special interest group members of the Diet have a stronger say than cabinet ministers or even the prime minister.”
Commenting on Okada’s statement, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi stated as follows:
“It is certainly necessary to do away with bureaucracy-controlled ways of running the government. However, we must also question whether ‘bureaucracy-control’ is what the Liberal Democratic government is all about. Wouldn’t this way of evaluation acquit the LDP of all adverse policies it has imposed on the nation?
People’s livelihoods have been threatened primarily by LDP government policies that give priority to defending the interests of the financial circles and large corporations and maintaining and strengthening the military alliance with the United States. The bureaucratic apparatus has been instrumental in faithfully supporting the implementation of the LDP policies.
We hear some people who talk a lot about corrupt relations between politicians and bureaucrats. The real problem lies in the corrupt relationships between politicians, bureaucrats, and the business sector.
This corrupt triangle is made possible by the ‘amakudari’ practice that gives retired government officials executive positions in the private sector or government-affiliated corporations and by corporate donations to political parties.” - Akahata, September 8, 2009
Commenting on Okada’s statement, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi stated as follows:
“It is certainly necessary to do away with bureaucracy-controlled ways of running the government. However, we must also question whether ‘bureaucracy-control’ is what the Liberal Democratic government is all about. Wouldn’t this way of evaluation acquit the LDP of all adverse policies it has imposed on the nation?
People’s livelihoods have been threatened primarily by LDP government policies that give priority to defending the interests of the financial circles and large corporations and maintaining and strengthening the military alliance with the United States. The bureaucratic apparatus has been instrumental in faithfully supporting the implementation of the LDP policies.
We hear some people who talk a lot about corrupt relations between politicians and bureaucrats. The real problem lies in the corrupt relationships between politicians, bureaucrats, and the business sector.
This corrupt triangle is made possible by the ‘amakudari’ practice that gives retired government officials executive positions in the private sector or government-affiliated corporations and by corporate donations to political parties.” - Akahata, September 8, 2009
