|
On July 8, DPJ President Banri Kaieda held his regular press conference at party headquarters, and detailed the party’s response to the following: (1) the approach of Typhoon Neoguri, (2) the issue of the use of the right to collective self-defence, and (3) the convening of regional bloc meetings.
With regard to the approach of Typhoon Neoguri, Kaieda stated, “We are seeing damage in parts of Okinawa and Kyushu. I would like to express my sympathy to the victims of the typhoon. I also call on the government and the various local authorities to take all appropriate measures. The DPJ is also doing its best to reduce the amount of damage, with Secretary General Ohata having issued instructions to party branches urging them to take what measures they can.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga has announced that the government is intending to submit legislation related to the use of the right to collective self-defence to the Diet as a batch, during the next year’s regular session, after the budget has been passed. Kaieda strongly criticised the methods used by Prime Minister Abe in trying to avoid debate on the issue, stating, “What was the point of the Cabinet decision? It should be withdrawn immediately” and going on, “The intent is to totally transform the peace-orientated policies, foreign policy and national security policy of Japan, which have enabled our nation to maintain its status as a peace-loving nation in the long post-war period. Therefore it is unacceptable to use a method which bundles the issues of collective self-defence, collective security, PKO, individual self-defence, and incidents in the area surrounding Japan into one package and try to pass them into law.”
Kaieda said that the DPJ would continue to call on the government and ruling parties to ensure that sufficient discussion of the issue would take place in the Committee on Budget during the Diet recess, stating, “We will continue to call for at least two days of discussions to be held in each of the Houses of the Diet.” He announced that should a session of the Committee on Budget be convened in the House of Representatives on July 14, he himself would be prepared to stand as an interpellator, and expressed his intention of pursuing such questions as the process to the Cabinet decision, that of whether the so-called “limited authorization” which had led to the Cabinet decision on this occasion could really be said to be limited, and whether it would not in fact change Japan’s “strictly defense-orientated national security policy”.
Meetings are scheduled to be held from July 18 with the secretaries general, electoral chiefs and branch leaders (persons scheduled to run as candidates in forthcoming national elections) of party regional blocs.
Kaieda said that these meetings would include a report on the DPJ’s activities and the events of the recently-ended Diet session, as well as examining what preparations were needed for the nationwide local elections next spring, and collecting opinions regarding the management of the party, including its internal moves to revitalise itself. In addition, he said that the party would set forth its intention of engaging in an intensive campaign regarding the right to collective self-defence during August and September, and would call for task-forces to be established in the various regions to deal with the issue of irregular employment. Kaieda explained that following these discussions with the regional blocs he intended to convene a meeting of party Diet members at the end of July.
|
