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On the afternoon of January 28, in response to questions by the press, President Banri Kaieda commented on the inaugural policy speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the first meeting of the 183rd Diet sessions, stating that “Throughout the Prime Minister’s speech, I had the impression that he was making nothing more than a New Year’s greeting.” He also noted that “Although the Prime Minister expressed his resolve to develop a robust economy, he needs to provide more details about his plan for economic revitalization and outline countermeasures for addressing the potential side effects or pitfalls related to financial policies or fiscal actions.”
Kaieda also expressed his views on taking on the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito administration, stating, “I will thoroughly question the Prime Minister after hearing his policy speech on January 30 to find out if his administration has prepared sufficiently for the Prime Minister’s economic revitalization policies. Furthermore, these economic revitalization policies, consisting of the ‘three prongs’ of bold monetary policy, flexible public finance policy, and a growth strategy, act like powerful medication, which is why countermeasures are needed to address any potential side effects or pitfalls.”
In answer to a question by the press regarding the fact that the Prime Minister made no mention of educational issues, Kaieda replied “Educational issues were not the only thing the speech ignored. In terms of foreign policy, the Prime Minister did not even mention the names of our neighboring countries like China or South Korea. That is why I thought of his speech as no more than a New Year’s greeting or resolution.”
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