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On November 30, the Japan National Press Club held a party leaders’ debate and the leaders of 11 major political parties, the largest number ever, participated. The debate focused on issues such as economic policy, participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, nuclear power operation, and amendments to the Constitution.
The President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Yoshihiko Noda, said in his opening speech, “Will Japan continue to move forward, or will it move backward? This is the key question in the upcoming general election.” He also stated and explained the five priority policies of the DPJ: (1) Promote social security reform in order to improve pensions, health, long-term care, and childrearing systems; (2) Create employment and promote growth in the priority areas of health, green energy reform, small and medium-sized enterprise, and agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries; (3) Realize zero dependence on nuclear power by the 2030s; (4) Deepen the Japan-US Alliance, maintain the vision of Japan as a nation committed to peace, pursue realistic diplomatic and defense policies, and continue positive economic diplomacy; (5) Conduct political reform in order to realize the reduction of the number of seats in the Diet, ban hereditary politics, and prohibit political contributions by business and organizations.
“Instead of scattering money fruitlessly, sow seeds in growth sectors”
In response to questions made by the President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Shinzo Abe, about detailed measures regarding breaking out from deflation and correction of the strong yen, Noda answered, “It is necessary to have a shared recognition of the problem with the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Recently, in collaboration with the BoJ, we published reports on the topic of mutual understanding. We would like to continue to strengthen measures in cooperation with the BoJ.” Also, regarding the 1% target inflation rate, Noda explained that this was a realistic target when taking into account past figures, and emphasized the importance of sowing seeds in growth sectors, instead of scattering money fruitlessly, for the realization of this target. In addition, he raised the fact that the demand-supply gap has shrunk and said, “Prospects for breaking out from deflation are growing steadily clearer.”
As a question for Abe, Noda pointed out the low cover ratio of FTA and EPA trade as a proportion of the total Japanese trade volume before the change in government in 2009. Noda said, “Once EPA negotiations between Japan and the EU starts, the ratio will rise to the 30% mark, negotiations between Japan, China and Korea will raise the ratio to the 50% mark, and participation in TPP negotiations will raise the ratio to the 90% mark. Japan will be one of the most important trading nations. We will adopt a strategy of proactiveness.” In addition, he criticized the unclear stance of the LDP regarding TPP participation.
When Noda was questioned by the Press Club regarding economic policy, he pointed out the DPJ’s achievement of quarterly positive growth despite the severe economic situation after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Lehman crisis. Noda strongly criticized Abe’s position regarding the underwriting of construction bonds by the BoJ stating, “Both the deficit-covering government bonds and construction bonds constitute debt. Even if it is a buying operation, making the BoJ finance the budget deficit is not the right way to do things.
“The DPJ has become a decisive political group”
In answer to a question about the emergence of a plethora of new political parties, Noda said, “As you mentioned, the splitting off of political parties from the DPJ is one of the reasons for this situation,” admitting his partial responsibility for this development. He continued, “However, we cannot postpone decision-making on issues that split public opinion in two. Therefore, although it was tough, we made hard decisions. It is unfortunate that some people left the party, but we were able to gather more than 260 approved and nominated candidates this time around. The DPJ is becoming a political group that strongly promotes politics that prioritize decision-making and doing what it takes to follow through with these decisions.” In addition, he emphasized the DPJ’s achievements regarding improving the childrearing support system and the DPJ’s goal of not leaving problems to future generations to deal with. He concluded his remarks by saying, “The current DPJ consists of members who seriously care about future generations and who have the necessary determination to conduct reforms. The DPJ sincerely ask for your support once again.”
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