Japan Press Weekly

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2008 September 24 - 30 [POLITICS]

Re-elected Komei leader mentions nothing about the party’s responsibility for misgovernment

The Komei Party re-elected Ota Akihiro as its leader at its regular convention on September 23.

The party has set in motion preparation for a likely snap House of Representatives general election with the catchphrase “Komeito protects your living standards.”

However, in his speech following his re-election, Ota said nothing to acknowledge the responsibility of his party as the junior partner of the Liberal Democratic Party in the ruling coalition for the “structural reform” policy that has undermined people’s living conditions and the country’s economy.

About the tainted foreign rice scandal, Ota sidestepped the ruling parties’ responsibility for continuing to import foreign rice under the non-obligatory minimum access formula and for having eased government controls and regulations on imported products.

What is more, he stressed the need for Japan to keep the Maritime Self-Defense Force deployed to the Indian Ocean on the refueling operation in support of the U.S. war against Afghanistan.