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On October 7, DPJ Policy Research Committee Chair Tetsuro Fukuyama took to the podium in a session of the Committee on Budget in the House of Councillors.
(1)Fukuyama began his speech by setting forth the DPJ’s basic stance, stating, “The Democratic Party of Japan believes that we need to develop our policies in accordance with the key words of diversity, inclusiveness, and sustainability. Under the banner of ‘the new public commons’ we would like to develop measures to support children and the physically challenged, working together with NGOs to create an inclusive society, one which offers everyone a place to work and a role to play.”
(2) Fukuyama went on to comment on the current economic situation, asking the Prime Minister, “Real wages have continued to fall for 14 consecutive months. Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda has made comments stating that inflation will rise to 2% by the mid-part of fiscal 2016. When would you expect to see a corresponding rise in real wages?” Abe responded, “There is a time-lag with respect to the rise in inflation, but wages will catch up.” However, he did not specify the expected time-frame for this.
(3) Following this, Fukuyama expressed strong reservations regarding the proposed revision of the Worker Dispatching Law, saying, “Half of those in their twenties are now employed as either dispatch workers or as irregular workers, and so when they reach their thirties and forties they will be unable to find suitable employment. The Abe administration is focusing on stabilizing short-term stock prices, but what is to be done about our nation’s future? The revision of the Worker Dispatching Law will lead to the erosion of Japan’s future middle class.”
(4) Next, Fukuyama referred to statements by government officials that they would respect decisions made by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) with regard to the resumption of operations at nuclear power plants. He commented, “The NRA only determines whether the new standards have been met. No safety checks are being carried out,” and asked the Prime Minister for his view on this. Abe replied, “We have never claimed that safety can be guaranteed 100%. The NRA is tasked with making scientific judgements as to whether the new standards have been met.”
(5) In relation to energy policy, Fukuyama stated, “Feed-in tariffs (FIT) were introduced by the DPJ administration, and during the past two years applications for 71.8 million kilowatts of power-generating capacity have been approved. Should all these facilities commence operations, they would be equivalent to the generating capacity of fifteen nuclear power plants. Moreover, they would all be domestic producers of electricity, and therefore we would no longer need to purchase expensive oil imports. If we are able to produce fifteen nuclear power plants’ worth of electricity for a monthly charge of 225 yen for the average household, then I believe that we can obtain public understanding.” He called on the government to be proactive, saying, “Kyushu Electric Power Company and other electric power companies have announced that they will place on hold applications made by renewable energy suppliers to hook-up to the grid. There are 68,569 such cases pending within Kyushu Electric Power Company’s area of operations alone. ”
In his closing argument, Fukuyama pointed out that “Leaving as many as 70,000 cases in limbo is tantamount to being anti-business, anti-local communities and anti-renewable energy. The nuclear accident should prompt us to strengthen Japan’s power grid so that electricity can be moved freely to all corners of our nation. The fact that this is not being done suggests the myth of nuclear safety has been resurrected.”
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