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2016 April 6 - 12 [POLITICS]

Abe scraps LDP’s anti-TPP public pledge

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, regarding the commitment his party made in 2012 to oppose the TPP accord, said, “I never said, ‘I’m dead set against the TPP’,” although he himself was the LDP president at that time.

Grilled by a Democratic Party lawmaker during Lower House general interpellations on the TPP on April 7, Abe made this remark and stunned all the attendees in the chamber hall.

In the 2012 general election campaign, the LDP’s posters read, “The LDP never tells a lie, the LDP never wavers, and the LDP is dead set against the TPP.”

The then superintendent of the LDP was Abe Shinzo himself, but he brazenly said, “Please, do not accuse me of having made that promise.” He then completely released himself and his party from that commitment.

Past related articles:
> Abe Cabinet breaks promise to citizens on TPP [October 10, 2013]
> 70% of LDP Dietmembers oppose TPP [March 4, 2013]