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2014/11/04
Kaieda slams proposed revision of Worker Dispatching Law as ‘extremely dangerous’ and urges thorough debate
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On November 4, DPJ President Banri Kaieda held his regular press conference at party headquarters. Kaieda began by commenting on the proposed revision of the Worker Dispatching Law. He said that debate on the legislation had been scheduled to start in the Committee on Health, Welfare and Labour in the House of Representatives on October 31, but this process had been derailed when the ruling coalition partner Komeito had expressed their intention of submitting a legislative amendment to the proposal in a meeting of senior Committee members. This had forced the scheduled Committee session to be adjourned. Kaieda criticized the chaos that had been caused by this total lack of consensus within the ruling coalition. He went on to state, ‘This issue of revising the Worker Dispatching Law is not simply one for the workers themselves. This legislative proposal is extremely dangerous for the future direction of Japan as a nation, and we would like to thoroughly debate it.”
Kaieda also commented on the additional monetary easing recently implemented by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), pointing out that carrying such policies at this time was extremely risky. He criticized the BoJ’s decision, saying ‘Japan has decided to implement further monetary easing just as the United States has announced that it will end its own quantative easing policy. Japan’s announcement of further easing has certainly caused share prices to rise, but the depreciating yen will deal another blow to people’s livelihoods. It totally ignores the huge negative impact on small and medium-sized businesses.”
Kaieda also stated his opinion regarding the announcement by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) that it will dramatically increase the proportion of pension funds invested in shares. He slammed the announcement, saying, “Asset allocations to domestic and foreign shares will be 25% each, meaning that a total of 50% of fund assets will be invested in shares. While asset diversification is important, this is a decision that goes beyond the bounds of common sense.” Kaieda stressed that usually when such a drastic change took place thorough debate should be undertaken, with discussion in the Diet and an appeal for public comment, and stated, “The voices of those who are paying pension premiums from their salary each month should be heard.”
A reporter asked Kaieda for his reaction to Prime Minister Abe’s one-sided criticisms of DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano on Facebook, which followed similar remarks by Abe in the House of Representatives Committee on Budget on October 30. The criticisms pertained to Edano’s receipt of political donations from labour unions, such as the Japan Confederation of Railway Workers’ Unions. Kaieda criticized Abe’s words and actions as unbecoming for a Prime Minister, stating, “Even if we look at today’s debate in the House of Councillors, Abe paid absolutely no attention to the opinions of the Japanese people. He ignored the DPJ Committee members who were giving voice to those opinions. On top of that, he is repeatedly engaging in malicious slander.”
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