Japan Press Weekly

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2009 March 4 - 10 [TOKYO]

JCP casts ‘Nay’ vote on cold-blooded Tokyo Metropolitan Government budget

The Japanese Communist Party voted against a supplementary budget bill in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly plenary session on March 5 because the bill calls for a 120.8 billion yen cut in the general account while maintaining the money allocated for an Olympic bid intact even though Tokyo’s tax revenue is expected to fall.

The JCP voted in favor of another supplementary budget that builds up funds to create more jobs and improve childcare centers.

The budget had been proposed by Governor Ishihara Shintaro and was supported by the majority vote of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Komei Party, and the Seikatsusha Net.

Speaking on behalf of the JCP in the plenary session of the metropolitan assembly, Kotake Hiroko said that what the metropolitan government should do in times of economic recession and job market collapse is to do away all wasteful uses of tax revenues and use the resources to expand and improve welfare and other social services.

Kotake criticized the cutbacks in the social welfare budget while increasing Tokyo’s use of money for investment purposes.

She also pointed out that the proposed budget plan maintains the reserve funds of 100 billion yen for a bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games and allocations for a Haneda Airport expansion project as well as various urban development projects.

Kotake said that based on the “structural reform” policy, the proposed budget would push ahead with a project to eliminate several research institutes essential to public services for Tokyo residents and small- and medium-sized businesses in Tokyo.