Japan Press Weekly

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2007 June 20 - 26 [POLITICS]

JCP Ichida criticizes ruling parties for repeatedly railroading bills

In the House of Councilors, the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on June 19 pushed a bill to adversely revise the Special Measures Law on Iraq through the defense committee as well as three education bills through the education committee in defiance of opposition from the Japanese Communist and other opposition parties.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on the same day criticized the Abe government for “railroading through bills solely relying on the force of numbers without proper discussions.”

Commenting on the three education bills, Ichida said, “Education issues require thorough discussions. At central and local public hearings, even ruling parties-recommended speakers either expressed the need to have careful discussions or voiced opposition to the bills.”

Ichida stressed that the bills will trample on the constitutional principle of independence of education and students’ freedom of conscience, pointing out that they (1) set standards of morality by law, (2) force teachers to keep in line by introducing a fixed-term teaching license system, and (3) strengthen state control over education in violation of local autonomy.

“With the prime minister calling for ‘a breakaway from the postwar regime,’ his cabinet is trying to impose a morality prevalent in the prewar days. It is absolutely unacceptable for the government to impose such state-defined morality on children,” said Ichida.

Concerning the bill to revise the Special Measures Law on Iraq, Ichida pointed out, “The international community commonly recognizes that the Iraq war is a war of aggression using false information as a pretext.” Pointing out that 70 percent of the people in Japan are opposed to the extension of the Self-Defense Forces’ operations in Iraq, Ichida said, “90 percent of the Air SDF’s transportation activities in Iraq are used to support the U.S. forces. By continuing such operations, the government will be isolated not only from the public but also from the rest of Asia and the rest of the world.” - Akahata, June 20, 2007