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On September 30, following the end of the 178th extraordinary Diet session, a general meeting of DPJ Diet members was held.
At the start of the meeting, DPJ President, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, expressed his appreciation to the assembled DPJ Diet members, including the DPJ party leadership headed by Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi, and the DPJ Chairs of the Committee on Budget in the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, Hiroshi Nakai and Hajime Ishii. He said that he had prepared for participation in the Committee on Budget by calming his spirit as if he were about to participate in Zen mediation, engraving the words “great patience” on his heart, and endeavouring to respond in a composed manner. He went on to say, “I have been advised to drive safely when governing the administration, and so now that the government is underway, I have just put the car into low-gear. From now on I would like to change up through the gears, into second, third and then top gear.”
Noda stated that his own live and living patterns had changed dramatically in the month since he had become Prime Minister, but said, “I believe that it has changed to a rhythm that is only natural since I must work to serve the people 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” He expressed a strong resolve to submit budgetary and other legislation to the Diet and have it enacted, stating: “From now on we must prepare for talks between the ruling and opposition parties, and submit the 3rd supplementary budget to the Diet as soon as possible. We also have legislation relating to the postal services, and civil service reform.”
Following this, Koshiishi addressed the gathering, expressing his appreciation to the Diet members, “for [their] cooperation up until today.”
In his report, Acting Secretary General Shinji Tarutoko referred to the “Petitions Headquarters”, the establishment of which had been approved by the Standing Officers Council on September 27, and explained about a seven-point agreement between the government and the ruling party which included the figures for temporary tax increases to be used for reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake, a pledge to make efforts to reduce the amount of the tax increases by selling shares in Japan Post and the like, and the procedures for enacting a law to establish funding for reconstruction (tentative title). Following this, Diet Affairs Committee Chair Hirofumi Hirano stated that he would “Work to further brush up the Diet affairs response of the ruling party.”
Policy Research Committee Chair Seiji Maehara said “I would like to deliver my report along with my appreciation.” He expressed his gratitude for the fact that many Diet members had participated in the various Policy Research Committee meetings relating to the 3rd supplementary budget and engaged in vigorous discussions.
Maehara summarized the main points of the debate as follows, “There were many opinions to the effect that the 3rd supplementary budget should be drafted without reliance on tax increases, as far as is possible, that considering current economic conditions, asking the public to bear tax increases would be questionable, and that it is the responsibility of the government and ruling parties to add extra money from non-tax sources.” He went on to say, “I promised that having been tasked with the ultimate authority, I would ask for extra money to be allocated from non-tax sources when negotiating with the government.”
Maehara then referred to the agreement between the government and ruling party that had been outlined by Tarutoko. He said that the government had first proposed a figure of 5 trillion yen for revenue from non-tax sources, but that the total amount of revenue from non-tax sources would now increase in stages, to reach a sum of 7 trillion yen over 10 years, and that as a result, the total amount of tax increases would be 9.2 trillion yen.
In addition, Maehara said that the DPJ would aim to further increase the amount of revenue from non-tax sources, by reducing the numbers of Diet members in both Houses of the Diet, and reducing the personnel costs of national civil servants, both measures included in the DPJ Manifesto, and would thus consider further reducing the amount of tax cuts.
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