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On January 13, DPJ President, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a press conference following the annual DPJ party convention for 2011.
Kan stated, “Several meetings have been held in quick succession in the last couple of days.” He went on to say, “Recently, there has been an atmosphere which has tended toward DPJ-bashing. In these circumstances, I felt that we seemed to be losing a bit of confidence in ourselves, and so I emphasized at each of these meetings, ‘That is not the case. The majority of what we have achieved over the past year and a half has not been mistaken’ and ‘If we communicate the details of what has been included in the budget for the next fiscal year to the Japanese people we will obtain their understanding.’ Kan said that he believed many DPJ politicians upon hearing this had felt, “That’s right, even under such tough conditions. We should be sure to communicate the things that need to be communicated properly.”
Following this, Kan expressed the opinion that there had not been sufficient liaison between the Cabinet and the party in terms of publicity, and said that it was necessary for the DPJ as the ruling party to reexamine its public relations’ structure. He said that the party would continue to engage in drafting the budget and in preparations for the nationwide local elections to be held later in the year.
A reporter asked Kan what his priorities were in reshuffling the party executive. He replied, “It is important for us to think about how we can overcome the crisis within the DPJ, but I would rather like us to focus on thinking about what the DPJ can do to overcome the crisis faced by Japan. Tomorrow, I will make changes to the Cabinet and the party executive. I would like to make these changes from the perspective of creating an organization that will best enable the DPJ as the ruling party to overcome the many problems currently facing Japan.”
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