Japan Press Weekly

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2011 April 27 - May 10 [POLITICS]

Ichida comments on supplementary budget for recovery

The Diet on May 2 approved the first supplementary budget for FY2011 focusing on disaster relief. The Japanese Communist Party also supported the budget in terms of the urgent necessity to provide aid for relief and recovery but disagreed on sources of funding.

The enacted budget allows pension reserves, which have been accumulated to maintain the government share of contributions at 50%, to be diverted to the reconstruction fund.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi at a press conference held on the same day stated that the JCP “will not support the agreement made among the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Komei Party” to promote an increase in the consumption tax rate in order to make up for the diverted portion of the pension reserves.

“However,” Ichida said, “the JCP voted for the budget because of the need to take immediate measures, including the construction of temporary housing complexes, removal of ruins and rubble, and loans to disaster-stricken small businesses and to farmers, fishermen, and forest owners.”

He went on to say, “It should be local residents and their municipalities in the disaster-hit region who draw up local plans for recovery, and the central government should then accept financial responsibility for their plans.”

In regard to a second additional budget, Ichida stated, “Our party will not accept a consumption tax hike as the government intends to implement in connection with its ‘unified reform’ in taxation and social welfare services.”