Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 24 - 30 [POLITICS]

Betrayal of public hope ends up with Kan’s resignation: Shii

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on August 26 referred to the resignation of Prime Minister Kan Naoto as a result of his party’s continuous betrayal of public expectations for political change.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Kan officially expressed his intention to step down, saying, “After the next Democratic Party of Japan president is elected, I will immediately resign as Japan’s prime minister and the Cabinet will also resign en masse.”

Shii told reporters at a press conference in the Diet building that although the DPJ realized a regime change two years ago with the support from many voters, it has done nothing to meet their expectations.

Shii said that the DPJ intends to break its election promise to move the U.S. Futenma base out of Okinawa and not to increase the consumption tax for four years. It instead seeks to promote Japan’s entry into the Pacific-rim free-trade pact which will victimize Japan’s farming industry. In addition, the party’s handling of the issues regarding the 3.11 earthquake and the ongoing nuclear crisis has not been appropriate.

Shii said that the general public is abandoning the DPJ, whose policies have tuned out to be no different from the previous ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Shii said, “As long as the DPJ keeps heading down the same path as the former Hatoyama government and the present Kan government, breaking its election pledges, and frustrating the people’s expectations for change in politics, it will reach a deadlock sooner or later. No matter who becomes the next head of the DPJ, it will have no future.”

“The presidential election of the DPJ is de fact an election of the next prime minister. However, none of the candidates has any plan for a future Japan. What they are debating instead is their party’s internal matters. I must say that the DPJ falls far short of being a ruling party,” said Shii, stressing that such an empty debate over a period of only two days to elect the next leader made the DPJ and Japan the laughing stock of the world.

Regarding Prime Minister Kan’s remark that he has done what needed to be done, Shii commented that all he has done is betray the people’s expectations, and therefore he ended up with losing their trust leading to the present consequences.

Stating that it is extraordinary to have stayed in office for another three months after Kan first indicated his resignation, Shii emphasized that this has had a grave impact on domestic and diplomatic policies.