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On July 28, the 4th meeting of Café Democrats, the DPJ’s briefing and exchange session for the diplomatic community was held at party headquarters. DPJ Diet Affairs Chair Shinji Tarutoko spoke to the gathering on the topic of “The Outlook for Diet Affairs Following the House of Councillors Election”. International Department Director-General Yutaka Banno also explained about the procedures involved in the election for DPJ President.
In his speech, Tarutoko referred to the so-called “twisted Diet” in which different political parties or groupings hold a majority in the House of Representatives and in the House of Councillors. He pointed out that in fact, since the 1989 House of Councillors election, 20 years ago, just as the bubble burst in Japan and the Cold War came to an end, no single party had been able to obtain a majority in the Upper House. Moreover, he added that a succession of coalition governments had been formed in order to obtain majorities in both houses of the Diet. Tarutoko stressed that in this era of genuine changes of government and a two-party system, it was necessary to understand that considering the nature of the current system in the House of Councillors, a “twisted” Diet was something that could occur at any time.
Tarutoko went on to express the opinion that amending legislation and the budget submitted to the Diet through debate in the Diet by Diet members who have been elected by the people is itself an exercise of political control in the larger sense. He expressed the intention of engaging in Diet affairs in a positive manner, saying that a great deal of effort would be required, but continuing with Diet affairs under these circumstances for the next three years would enable the DPJ to actually take advantage of the difficult situation facing them and shift to a mode of government controlled by politicians.
Furthermore, Tarutoko expressed the opinion that opposition party Diet members were starting to realise that the opposition parties also are accountable if they oppose or prevent enactment of legislation, and added he felt that there was legislation that could be passed by the ruling and opposition parties debating and coming to an agreement on amendments. He added that Japan had 2000 years of history behind it, and had overcome a whole variety of difficulties during that time, and so the matter of different political grouping holding majorities in the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors would not prove to be an insurmountable problem. He emphasized that it was when people faced a tough situation that new ways of doing things were developed and said he would engage in Diet affairs using a trial and error approach.
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