Japan Press Weekly

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2010 December 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

176th extraordinary Diet session ends

The 176th extraordinary Diet session closed its term on December 3. JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on behalf of Chair Shii Kazuo, who is visiting Cambodia to attend the 6th General Assembly of International Conference of Asian Political Parties, spoke at a general meeting of the JCP Dietmembers Group on the same day.

Ichida at first pointed out that throughout the session it became apparent that the politics under the Democratic Party of Japan-led government has turned out to be a “past Liberal Democratic Party version of politics.”

Ichida said that the ruling DPJ “has completely turned into a driving force of old-style politics,” citing the fact that the DPJ broke its public promises to abolish the discriminatory health insurance system for the elderly aged 75 and over and revise the Worker Dispatch Law, and decided to enter into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement which may destroy Japanese agriculture.

Ichida went on to say that regarding the territorial issues of the Senkaku Islands and the Chishima Islands, the Kan administration not only inherited the weakness of the former LDP government’s diplomatic policy but also showed a lack of diplomatic power with its mishandling of emerging issues. Ichida also said that regarding the issue of North Korea’s act of military provocation, the administration could not come up with an initiative that would work for a peaceful and diplomatic solution.

Ichida criticized the DPJ for refusing to summon its former president Ozawa Ichiro as a sworn witness to the Diet and for resuming the acceptance of corporate and organizational political donations.

Ichida pointed out that there is little difference in policies between the two parties and that the ruling DPJ and the LDP insulted each other in the Diet, and criticized this as political deterioration.

Ichida said, “The JCP used Diet deliberations to indicate the direction of policies that the government should take. This JCP stance is the proper way of conducting parliamentary politics under which political parties use parliamentary deliberations to influence a ruling party.”

Ichida also stressed that the JCP’s position on the TPP issue and the territorial issue will continue to play an important role in Diet deliberations.
- Akahata, December 4, 2010