April 17, 2020

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on April 16 said that a plan to provide 100,000 yen in cash benefits to each individual in Japan is practical in terms of speediness and fairness, demanding that the government incorporate this plan in a recently-proposed supplementary budget draft for fiscal 2020 designed to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Shii made this remark at a press conference held in the Diet building when asked for a comment on Prime Minister Abe’s decision to rearrange the supplementary budget draft in order to change the course of cash benefits to one distributing 100,000 yen to everyone.

Shii pointed out that the initial government plan to provide cash relief of 300,000 yen to households has been criticized as being unfair and discriminatory because applicants for this scheme need to clear various hurdles, such as providing that the main breadwinner’s income was halved. He said, “In this context, I have to point to the collapse of the government’s cash assistance policy. On the other hand, it becomes evident that as financial aid measures, the distribution of 100,000 yen in cash benefits to all people is more workable.”

Shii referred to the argument for the need to set conditions, including an income limit, on the 100,000-yen cash distribution program. He said, “The introduction of an income limit and other requirements will slow the cash distribution. The government should provide the money without restrictions.”

Furthermore, commenting on the government’s intent to wait until a second supplemental budget is drafted, Shii said, “The government should carry out the cash provision under the current supplemental budget plan without delay.”

Meanwhile, on the day in the Diet building, JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira said to the press that the existing chaotic situation with the government's slow response to the COVID-19 spread has been created by PM Abe’s stance to shut his ears to opposition parties’ proposal for 100,000 yen in cash benefits per capita. He said that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition partner Komei Party should also be held responsible for this situation as it agreed with the Cabinet decision on the present supplementary budget draft.

Koike pointed out that the opposition parties, including the JCP, have made various proposals regarding necessary measures that need be taken. They are, for example, the implementation of a stay-at-home and business suspension request together with a compensation program, a fundamental improvement of the PCR testing system, and a drastic increase in temporary subsidies to municipalities. Koike said, “The government should revise the supplementary budget not only for the implementation of the 100,000-yen cash benefit distribution, but it should redraft this budget as a whole by listening to the opposition parties’ proposals.”

Past related article:
>Koike: Public explanation regarding emergency declaration and adequate compensation needed [April 7, 2020]