Japan Press Weekly

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2012 January 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

DPJ becomes successor to LDP politics at its convention

The latest convention of the Democratic Party of Japan again showed that the DPJ has completely turned out to be the successor to the former ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

At the convention on January 16, Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko called for Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact and promotion of other economic partnerships, construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa’s Nago City, and the unified reform of social welfare programs and the taxation system. “Without carrying out these policies, there will be no future for Japan or its citizens,” said Noda.

He also stated that he will conduct cuts in the number of Dietmembers and reduce government employees’ wages at any cost.

A consumption tax increase was initially proposed by the former LDP-led government, as were the U.S. base construction, reduction in the number of parliamentarians, and reduction of public employees’ salaries.

The DPJ’s succession to these policies initiated by the LDP was praised by Yonekura Hiromasa, the president of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), who said at the DPJ Congress, “We’d like to extend every possible cooperation for realization of these important policies.”

Noda also mentioned the need for the DPJ to return to the starting point of the DPJ-led government as well as its former slogan, “People’s livelihoods come first,” while stopping short of mentioning the party’s breach of the 2009 general election manifesto.