|
On the afternoon of February 13, DPJ Secretary General Akihiro Ohata held his regular press conference at party headquarters, and discussed such issues as (1) the DPJ response to calls to abolish the Special Secrets Protection Law and to review plans to move the provision of services for those classified as Category 1 and Category 2 insured persons under the long-term care insurance system to local municipalities, (2) the DPJ Handbook, and (3) the 2014 annual party convention.
At the start of the press conference Ohata announced that he had just received a petition prior to the press conference from an association representing Japan's elderly citizens and retirees, saying: "The DPJ has received a petition urging us to respond thoroughly to the issue of the Special Secrets Protection Law. At the same time, we received an appeal stating that they do not agree with the direction of the administration's current revisions of long-term care insurance." Ohata commented, "I said that since this was a petition representing 77,000 people, we would like to respond to it carefully." Ohata expressed the opinion that these would be significant issues for the current Diet session, and said, with Next Minister for Health, Labour and Welfare Kazunori Yamanoi also present at the meeting, they had confirmed the DPJ's intention to take clear action on these matters.
With regard to the Special Secrets Protection Law in particular, Ohata said, "The fact that this Law was enacted at the end of last year also had an impact on the fact that in the world press freedom index announced by the international organization Journalists Without Borders, Japan had fallen to 53rd place out of 59." He stressed, "In response to this criticism from the international community, I would like to thoroughly engage with this issue during the current Diet session from the point of view of looking at the Special Secrets Protection Law to see how we can make Japan a country that guarantees the freedom of the press and the people's right to know."
Ohata also announced that 'The Official DPJ Handbook 2014' had gone on sale at major book retailers nationwide, in conjunction with the convening of the DPJ's annual convention on February 8 and 9. He explained that the handbook contained highlights of the party history from its formation in 1998 to the present, as well as the full text of all of the party manifestos from the
2003 general election onwards, and added, "This one volume contains all you need to know about where the DPJ found the inspiration for its development and vision. It also contains a summary of how the party has been validating itself since President Kaieda took over as leader."
With regard to the party convention, Ohata said that "We have been endeavouring to move forward up until now by listening to the opinions of the people of Fukushima, and now we have communicated the message that 'There can be no revitalization of Japan without the recovery of Fukushima'
at our party convention." He explained that the party convention would usually take place on one day, but that this time it had been held over two days. The purpose of this was to demonstrate the party's intention of formulating policy from now on by listening to regional opinions, centring on local assembly members, although the previous tendency had been for policy-making to be centred on the discussions conducted by Diet members.
In order to achieve this, six workshops had taken place on the first day of the Convention, serving as forums to consider the positions taken by the party's General Research Committees. Ohata said that the DPJ had succeeded in engaging in policy-formation which reflected the opinions of local communities, and said, "At the Convention itself, we made reports that included such content, and decided on the party's 2014 Action Plan." He added, "I believe that we were able to express the concept that the DPJ is making a new start in a different way to that which could have been achieved by holding a normal-style party convention. In the meeting held with Rengo (Japan Trade Union Confederation) on February 12, we received the suggestion that the DPJ should develop a mid to long term strategy, based on its year's action plan. The DPJ will continue to be the recipient of critical comments, but I believe that the party convention will provide us with the opportunity to move forward while continuing to pay attention to such voices.
|
