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On the afternoon of December 4, DPJ House of Councillors caucus Chair Azuma Koshiishi held a regular press conference and criticized the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso for an inconsistent stance regarding next fiscal year's budget. Koshiishi said, "I have no idea what the Aso Cabinet is thinking. Are they planning to continue [former Prime Minister] Koizumi's reforms or are they planning to roll them back? Are they planning to issue deficit-financing government bonds or are they planning to restore the primary balance? It is impossible to know."
In response to a question from the press, Koshiishi spoke about the Question Time (QT) scheduled for December 17 and said that rather than focusing on whether or not the debate would take place, the more important thing was to establish an appropriate theme. He pointed out, "At previous QT, Prime Minister Aso has shied away from engaging in debate. This defeats the object of the exercise. The session is only meaningful if he addresses the major topic of the high level of frustration currently felt among Japanese people."
He criticized the ruling coalition for failing to submit new bills and concentrating solely on passing an amendment to the bill to strengthen financial systems and the new terrorism special measures bill. He said that the DPJ intended to continue submitting bills as deemed necessary. He drew attention to the "need to rapidly address the current situation in which one in three Japanese workers is a non-regular employee", pointing out that the "DPJ has established an emergency employment headquarters with Acting President Naoto Kan as director". He emphasized the need to explain to voters what measures the DPJ will implement when it takes office.
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