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On December 6, a motion of no-confidence against the Abe cabinet was submitted to the plenary session of the House of Representatives by the DPJ, and DPJ President Banri Kaieda himself took to the podium to explain the purpose of the motion. The no-confidence motion was defeated following a vote.
Kaieda said, “Prime Minister Abe is finally starting to show his true colours. That is authoritarian politics that silences debate which he finds inconvenient, fails to listen to the voice of the people, and relies on numbers in the Diet, trampling all over the opposition. This true nature of his has come to the fore in the railroading of the special secrets protection legislation through the Diet…The Abe administration has submitted a legislative proposal that is extremely slapdash if it is to serve as a secrets protection system in a democratic nation, and instead of trying to make this a proper proposal through engaged in intense debate, has forcibly enacted inadequate legislation through authoritarian Diet affairs tactics that rely on weight of numbers, in the process throwing our nation’s parliamentary democracy into crisis.”
Kaieda went on to stress, “I feel compelled to point out that the basic philosophy behind this special secrets protection legislation is extremely dangerous for democracy. A whole variety of problems have been indicated, not only in Diet debate, but from citizens from various walks of life, ranging from the media to your average person in the street. The arbitrary designation of secrets by the government is likely to unfairly infringe upon the public’s right to know and basic human rights. People feel strong apprehension, concern and anxiety, and have called for a thorough-going and careful debate. No, not just have, they are still continuing to call for this even now…However, Prime Minister Abe has closed his ears, and makes no attempt to listen to the voices of the people of this country. A prime minister who ignores the voices of the public is not fit to be the leader of this nation.”
Kaieda commented, “The makeshift responses of the government and ruling parties over these past few days provide clear evidence of just how abysmal this legislation really is.” He cited the fact that the Prime Minister, in his haste to have the legislation enacted by the end of the Diet session, had suddenly overnight come up with the idea of “establishing third-party bodies by means of a Cabinet resolution”, and stressed, “However, this is written nowhere in either the original government proposal or the four-party revision proposal. Coming up with such abrupt and makeshift administrative measures in an attempt to divert the critical gaze of the public is unpardonable humbuggery and the epitome of irresponsibility.”
Kaieda also stated, “Prime Minister Abe, in June 2007, we also confronted your Cabinet with a no-confidence motion. I’d like now to read out the reason for that: ‘Prime Minister Abe’s self-righteous and dangerous political stance disparages the legislature that serves as the cornerstone of democratic politics. He pays lip service in public to the concept of deciding matters in the Diet, while in reality totally ignoring the voice of the Diet calling for thorough and substantial debate, issuing commands from the Prime Minister’s Office, treating the legislative arm of the Diet as if it were a subcontractor of the administrative arm, and repeatedly having the ruling parties railroad legislation through the Diet. This behaviour of the Prime Minister in disparaging parliament can never be forgiven by any parliamentarian.’” After reading this aloud, Kaieda said, “Your authoritarian stance has not changed one iota. We call for the immediate resignation of the Abe cabinet, which has failed to listen to the voice of the people, ignores the Diet and can be said to be a threat to the development of democracy in our nation.”
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