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2014/03/31
Kaieda vows to “work steadily on enhancing social security and enabling SMEs to engage in passing on price increases” following consumption tax rise
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On March 31, DPJ President Banri Kaieda held his regular press conference, and commented on the immediate issues regarding the increase in the rate of consumption tax due to be implemented on April 1, the establishment of a strategy headquarters on irregular employment and his forthcoming visit to the United States.
With regard to the increase in the consumption tax rate to 8%, Kaieda stated the DPJ would do the following: (1) check to make sure that small and medium-sized enterprizes (SMEs) were able to properly pass on that increase in cost, (2) ensure that cash payments to low-income households and households with children are distributed as speedily as possible, and further discuss whether it is really sufficient for these payments to be one-time payments only, (3) continue to stress in the Diet that revenues stemming from the increase in consumption tax should be properly used to enhance the social security system, (4) stress the need for administrative reforms and the elimination of wasteful use of tax-payers’ money, and (5) continue to urge Prime Minister Abe to proceed with the reduction in the number of Diet members which was promised to the public.
In view of the fact that issues relating to the proposed weakening of the employment code, including revision of the Worker Dispatch Act, would be a main theme of the latter half of the Diet session, the DPJ had established the irregular employment strategy headquarters with the objective of protected the current employment code, and aiming for the stable employment of irregular workers. Secretary General Akihiro Ohata would serve as Chair of the Strategy Headquarters, with Policy Research Committee Chair Mitsuru Sakurai, and Corporation and External Organisations Committee Chair Minoru Yanagida serving as Vice Chairs, and Deputy Secretary General Toshiyuki Kato as Secretary-General. A Council for the Promotion of Decent Work (tentative title) was established under the Strategy Headquarters. Decent Work means work that is worth doing and that is a source of human dignity, but some present at the meeting commented that the Council should have a more easily understandable name, and so this is a tentative title. This will be a forum not just for internal discussions but also for consultations with the various organisations such as the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, and non-profit organisations.
A DPJ delegation to the United States, led by President Kaieda, will depart Japan on April 7 bound for Washington. During their visit, Kaieda will give a speech at the Brookings Institution, and the delegation is scheduled to meet with members from both Houses of Congress, and exchange opinions with media representatives and government officials. Kaieda will be accompanied by DPJ Standing Officers Council Chair Masayuki Naoshima, Executive Office Director-General Satoshi Arai, member of the House of Representatives Shuhei Kishimoto, and member of the House of Councillors Motohiro Oono. Kaieda stated, “We would like to communicate the fact that not everyone thinks the same way as Mr. Abe and those close to him, and that among the political parties and politicians in Japan there are also those who accept the pacifism, popular sovereignty and plurality of values that have accumulated during Japan’s post-war democracy. I would like to listen directly to what US lawmakers and administration officials are currently thinking with regard to issues such as security, and engage in substantial discussions.”
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