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On November 12, a general meeting of the DPJ Political Reform Promotion Headquarters (Chair: Secretary General Katsuya Okada) was held inside the Diet building. The following three topics were discussed: (1) lifting the ban on Internet campaigning, (2) legislation proposing that Diet members’ salaries should be calculated on a daily rather than monthly basis for the months in which they either gain or lose the status of Diet member, and (3) a 10% cut in Diet members’ salaries. The meeting agreed discussions between the ruling and opposition parties could begin regarding (1) and (2).
In his address at the start of the meeting, Secretary General Katsuya Okada stressed that “Political reform is one of the most important pillars of DPJ policy” and urged members to engage in vigorous debate.
Following the meeting, the Secretary General of the Political Reform Headquarters, member of the House of Representatives Akira Nagatsuma, told reporters that it had been agreed to initiate discussions between the ruling and opposition parties regarding lifting the ban on Internet campaigning and legislation proposing that Diet members should be calculated on a daily basis, with a view to passing legislation on these matters during the current Diet session. He said that with regard to Internet campaigning, the basis for discussion would be the bill that had been discussed by the ruling and opposition parties during the previous ordinary Diet session, with the recent House of Councillors election in mind. Nagatsuma said that the party wanted to implement lifting of the ban “from the next national election” and also revealed that self-imposed limits on the use of Twitter would also be discussed. He explained that legislation proposing that Diet members be paid by the day would change the current system wherein even if a person has been a Diet member for just one day during a particular month, they can still receive a full month’s pay. He also reported that it had been decided to convene another general meeting to discuss the subject of Diet members pay cuts further.
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