Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 June 5 - 11 [TOKYO]

DPJ in Tokyo keeps its mouth shut about breach of election promises

The Democratic Party of Japan is trying to ride through the June 23 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election by sweeping under the carpet its breach of promises that the party made during the previous election campaign four years ago.

In the 2009 Tokyo assembly election, the DPJ promised to oppose the governor’s plans to relocate the Tsukiji fish market to a soil-polluted location in Toyosu and close three metropolitan children’s hospitals to which many Tokyoites objected. As a result, the party won 54 seats in the election, obtaining the majority of seats in the assembly.

Regarding the closing of the three children’s hospitals, although the DPJ agreed with the Japanese Communist Party to jointly submit to the assembly a draft ordinance to keep the hospitals in operation, it changed its position just two months after the election.

As for the relocation of the fish market, the DPJ reversed its previous stance after a number of closed door discussions with the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties, major supporters of the then Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro, during the Assembly session in March 2010.

Tokyo citizens are casting a critical eye on the DPJ for breaking its election promises at both national and prefectural levels, putting the party in a tough situation. Furthermore, some DPJ assembly members left the party because they were upset with the party’s breach of election promises.

In a series of street speeches seeking public support in the upcoming metropolitan assembly election, DPJ President Kaieda Banri just said that the DPJ in the Tokyo assembly “supports policies if they are good for citizens, and says ‘No’ to bad ones.” Does the party really believe that this addresses voters’ criticisms?