On the afternoon of April 23, the DPJ's Next Cabinet met inside the Diet and examined various bills and approved the Bill to Amend the Worker Dispatch Law (provisional translation) that was drafted by the party's Health, Welfare and Labour Department.

The Next Minister of Health, Welfare and Labour Masahiko Yamada reported on the progress of discussions within the party and negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties over the "Bill to Secure Adequate Numbers of Nursing Care Personnel" (provisional translation), which was submitted by the DPJ and the "Bill to Amend the Nursing Care Insurance Law and the Senior Citizen's Welfare Law" (provisional translation) which was submitted by the Cabinet. The Next Cabinet approved the Health, Welfare and Labour Department's policy of approving the latter bill after making modifications based on the former bill.

On the topic of screening of bills submitted by DPJ members, Next Minister of State for the Cabinet Office Koji Matsui explained the content of the "Bill to Amend the Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law and the Explosives Control Law" (provisional translation) alongside House of Councillors member Ryuji Yamane, who was responsible for drafting the Bill.
The Next Cabinet approved the bill, which will implement various measures including stricter rules for firearm possession permits that became an issue after a recent shooting incident in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Next Health Welfare and Labour Minister Yamada and Masao Kobayashi, who is the secretary general of a DPJ working group addressing labor issues, reported on the "Bill to Amend the Worker Dispatch Law, a law which aims to ensure the proper operation of worker dispatch businesses and improved working conditions for dispatch workers" (refer to the link below to view the contents of the bill in Japanese). The Next Cabinet approved the content of the bill, and reconfirmed the DPJ's basic policy for improving employment conditions for irregular workers.

The Next Cabinet also discussed how to respond to two bills submitted by the Cabinet, the "Bill to Amend the Law on Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Treatment for Patients with Infectious Diseases and the Quarantine Law" (provisional translation) and the "Bill to Amend the Law concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming". The Next Cabinet decided to approve these bills provided certain modifications were made to reflect the DPJ's positions.

After the press conference, Next Cabinet Secretary Naoshima announced that the results of House of Representatives preliminary surveys had been published on the DPJ website (refer to the link below for further information in Japanese). Naoshima referred to debate within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on reducing the number of retired officials who take up posts at transport-related organizations that receive funds from tax revenues dedicated to roads and pointed out that the current debate only considers a limited selection of all public-service corporations. Naoshima said that "we call on the government to take appropriate action to tackle [vested interests] in all ministries and agencies in order to deal with the issue comprehensively." He also said that the DPJ will engage in further debate in order to finalize bills to counter government reform plans for public-sector workers and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's proposal to establish a new "Consumers Agency" (tentative name).

Related websites (Japanese only)

Results of House of Representatives Preliminary Surveys
http://www.dpj.or.jp/special/yobicyousa/index.html


Downloads (Japanese only)

Major points of the Bill to Amend the Worker Dispatch Law
http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/files/080423yoko.pdf

Summary of the DPJ's "Policies for Improving Employment Conditions for Irregular Workers"
http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/files/080423koyo.pdf

"Preliminary Survey of Central Government Official Reemployment"
http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/files/080423NC.pdf

(08/04/23)