2011 January 26 - February 1 TOP3 [
POLITICS]
DPJ gears up to review its Manifesto
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January 31, 2011
The Democratic Party of Japan has begun to move toward reviewing its Manifesto which the party publicly promised during the 2009 general election campaign. The move suggests that the DPJ is to surrender to the business circles and the United States.
Behind the move lies the impasse that the DPJ-led government is now facing in discussing the FY 2011 national budget.
The plan for review also indicates the DPJ resolve to promote undemocratic policies unfettered by previous promises.
Prime Minister Kan Naoto at question-and-answer sessions on behalf of the party in the Lower and Upper Houses (Jan.26-28) stated many times that the DPJ intends to review its Manifesto, as it will mark the halfway point for the Lower House session ending in September.
The DPJ Convention held on January 13 had already adopted a policy of reviewing the Manifesto by the summer. General Secretary Okada Katsuya explained, “The party should discuss which items need to be ranked higher, lower, or to take more time, and which items are unattainable.”
Funding issue
The report the DPJ published in December, “Results of DPJ-led government for the last 15 months,” boastfully refers to the 5% decrease in the corporate tax to meet the request of the business circles as well as the Japan-U.S. Agreement designed to impose on Okinawans the “relocation” of the U.S. Futenma base within Okinawa. It is obvious in whose interests the planned review will be.
In the budget recompilation work at the end of 2010, the Kan government had to undergo great difficulties in seeking funds to realize the 5% cut in the corporate tax. Funds coming from the budget-item screening are negligible.
Genba Koichiro, state minister in charge of national strategies, in a press conference on January 14 made the following comment in regard to the DPJ promise to raise 16.8 trillion yen to fund the promises made in the Manifesto for the general election, “We should classify our promises and apologize for what we should apologize for. It is important for us to begin anew.” This statement shows that the funding issue is what lies behind the DPJ moves to review the Manifesto.
PM Kan is now rushing toward raising the consumption tax rate. However, the Manifesto for the general election states that the present 5% consumption tax rate should be maintained. To increase the consumption tax rate, the DPJ must review its Manifesto.
However, some DPJ members are openly complaining, “We hear that the revised Manifesto will refer to joining the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact. This means that the DPJ will work to do what it promised not to do and sabotage what it publicly promised. It is an insult to the public that the DPJ reviews the Manifesto because the government is short of funds and will eventually increase the consumption tax rate.” The issue may cause contradictions within the DPJ as the discussion for the review proceeds.
Calls to LDP and Komei
The DPJ has another aim in reviewing the Manifesto.
PM Kan in his policy speech and question-and-answer sessions called for ruling-opposition consultations over every undemocratic policy such as Japan joining the TPP free-trade pact, a consumption tax rate increase, and a cut in the set numbers of parliamentarians.
Since last year, the Liberal Democratic Party has been urging the prime minister to make a decision on increasing the consumption tax and criticizing DPJ policies of granting child allowances, toll-free expressways, individual income compensation for agricultural households, and tuition-free high schools. The LDP and the Komei Party have been urging the prime minister to retract the DPJ Manifesto.
In a representative questioning in the current Diet session, LDP President Tanigaki Sadakazu called on the DPJ to clearly admit to mistaken policy positions in the Manifesto and retract them. Komei Party leader Yamaguchi Natsuo also demanded that the DPJ promptly recognize the failure of the Manifesto and urged that it be withdrawn.
Clearly, the DPJ intent to review the Manifesto is based on calculations intended to lure the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties into ruling-opposition consultations.
Thus, the DPJ is changing its policy positions by reviewing its Manifesto in order to join the U.S.-led TPP and to increase the consumption tax as required by business circles. If the DPJ Manifesto retains the phrase, “top priority on people’s livelihoods” in the revised text, then the significance of the Manifesto will be completely lost.
