Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

TPP ratification bill forced through Lower House

Amid a storm of public protest, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties and the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party on November 10 railroaded the TPP ratification and related bills through the House of Representatives. In the Lower House plenary session, the Japanese Communist Party voted against the bills and the three other opposition parties walked out of the chamber before the vote.

In the discussions at the plenary session, JCP legislator Hatayama Kazuya referred to the fact that Republican Donald Trump won in the U.S. presidential election by pledging to withdraw his country from the TPP framework. Hatayama said, “It is the height of folly for Japan’s Diet to pass the TPP-related bills while public opposition is mounting in other nations concerned.”

Hatayama went on to point out various problems associated with the free trade pact, especially the danger of its provisions in the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). “It’s totally unacceptable to ratify the TPP agreement which threatens Japan’s economic and food sovereignty for the sake of further enriching multinational corporations,” he stressed.

Prior to the deliberations, the four opposition parties, including the JCP, jointly presented a motion of no-confidence in Agriculture Minister Yamamoto Yuji who had previously made remarks supporting a forced passage of the measures. The motion was rejected by the majority vote of the governing parties.

On November 4, the chair of the Lower House Special Committee on the TPP abruptly called a meeting and the committee members from the ruling parties rammed the bills through in the absence of opposition lawmakers. Lower House Steering Committee Chair Sato Tsutomu said that he has never seen such an abnormal situation in his 20-year parliamentary career. Speaker of the House of Representatives Oshima Tadamori also said, “The vote was not taken in a democratic manner.”

Past related article:
> Citizens & opposition parties protest forced passage of TPP-related bills [November 5, 2016]