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On April 1, Secretary General Goshi Hosono held a press conference at party headquarters in which he noted that “From April 1 there have been a number of amendments to various legislation and structures, all of which were formulated during the administration of the DPJ and which bear the hallmarks of the DPJ’s thoughts and concepts.” Hosono cited three amendments: (1) Amendment of the Act Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons; (2) Amendment of the Labour Contract Act; and (3) Amendment of the System to Promote Employment for Persons with Disabilities. With regard to the Amendment of the Act Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons, Hosono noted “this amendment will expand the number of people eligible to continue in employment after they have reached retirement age.” With regard to the Amendment of the Labour Contract Act, he explained that “the amended system will help to ensure stable employment to the greatest degree possible for persons engaged in short-term work, such as temporary workers, by transferring their temporary contracts to indefinite contracts.” With regard to the Amendment of the System to Promote Employment for Persons with Disabilities, he stated “This amendment is the realization of discussions that took place within the DPJ on how to ensure persons with disabilities have the greatest access possible to employment opportunities. It represents a policy change that is typical of the DPJ.”
In addition, Hosono reported on the outcome of an executive meeting held the same day, in which it was decided to change the campaign policy for the House of Councillors election. He stated “To date we have engaged in various election-related discussions with other opposition parties and have sought out the possibility of achieving some form of coexistence with them. However, we have now changed that policy. In constituencies where we currently are not fielding a candidate, we have decided to make every effort to field our own official candidates.” Explaining this policy change, Hosono noted “The reason is that the mission statement of the Japan Restoration Party, which was adopted at their party convention, is completely different to the concepts of the DPJ.” He pointed out that the concept of “Self-help, Self-reliance” that the Japan Restoration Party has been strongly espousing is “In complete contrast to the ‘inclusive society’ that the DPJ aims to achieve.” With regard to concepts relating to the Constitution, Hosono stated “We will devise a Constitution based on constitutional ideals. In other words, based on those ideals, our stance should be to engage in discussions on the Constitution in a forward-looking manner, including constitutional amendments. However, the mission statement of the Japan Restoration Party makes it clear that their concept of the Constitution is completely different to ours.”
With regard to the Constitution of Japan, Hosono stated “In comparison with the former Constitution of the Empire of Japan, our current Constitution is one that achieved significant forward progress, from the perspective of protecting the rights and freedoms of the people of Japan. We are seeking the best for our country, which has upheld the ideals of the current Constitution during the entire post-war period. Our concept is therefore to actively seek to engage in discussion on the Constitution from the perspective of further developing constitutionalism in Japan.” On the other hand, with regard to the stance of the Japan Restoration Party, which maintains that the current Constitution has ‘made Japan an object of isolation and derision,” Hosono expressed his recognition by noting “The concept of the Japan Restoration Party to roundly criticize the bedrock on which Japan has functioned during the post-war period is in stark contrast to the concept of the DPJ.” He also noted “Looking at these two aspects of the Japan Restoration Party, we can see that it bears a close resemblance to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Abe Administration,” and “We will fight the House of Councillors election from a stance that aims to prevent the LDP and Japan Restoration Party from achieving their aim of attaining a combined majority of two-thirds of all seats.” Finally, Hosono announced “We will maintain the concept that was confirmed in the party convention of blocking the LDP and New Komeito Administration. Another important goal is to work hard to ensure that the LDP and Japan Restoration Party do not acquire two-thirds of all seats in the Upper House.”
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