February 29, 2020

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties and the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party on February 28 at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting dismissed a opposition parties’ proposal for a 2020 budget draft revision to urgently fight against COVID-19.

The proposal, which was jointly submitted by opposition parties including the Japanese Communist Party, pointed out that the government-proposed budget for the next fiscal year starting April 2020 includes no cost for measures to contain the new virus while providing a total of 251.6 billion yen for the promotion of scandal-tainted casino-related projects and the unpopular Social Security and Tax number (My Number) system. The anti-Abe opposition block insisted that the funds allocated to non-essential items should be shifted to those which are essential to fight COVID-19. Currently, the Abe government plans to use 15.3 billion yen for measures to prevent the further spread of the new virus in the country.

Following the rejection of the opposition forces’ proposal, asked for a comment by the press in the Diet building, JCP Chair Shii criticized the ruling forces. He said that under the situation in which the COVID-19 outbreak has become a matter of grave concern to the public, the ruling block bulldozed through the government-drafted budget which fails to address new virus-related issues. He also said that the ruling parties shut their ears to the opposition proposal calling for reapportioning around 250 billion yen in budget allocations and using the money for countermeasures against COVID-19.

Shii expressed his determination to continue pressing the government to drastically increase funds to improve systems for diagnostic detection and medical care for COVID-19 patients, reduce negative impacts on Japan’s economy, and cope with other problems pertaining to the spread of the new virus.

Past related article:
> Shii: Gov’t should utilize wisdom of experts and increase budget to contain COVID-19 [February 21, 2020]