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On February 9, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano held his regular press conference at party headquarters.
At the start of the press conference, Edano touched on a visit he had made to a care facility in Kyoto at the weekend, and said, “People working on the front lines of providing long-term care expressed grave concerns to me about the planned reduction in compensation paid to nursing care service providers. Prime Minister Abe has changed direction, saying that Abenomics ‘does not aim to achieve a trickle-down effect’ and he will ‘endeavor to raise wage levels’ [for care workers]. Reducing compensation payments however will have the opposite effect. He has no understanding of the difficult conditions facing actual care workers. What he says and what he actually does are two totally different things.”
Reporters asked Edano for the DPJ position on constitutional revision and the way in which internal party debate on the issue will take place. He responded, “We will engage positively in discussions regarding whether there are parts of the Constitution that need to be changed due to the changing times or needs of society. However, we will judge whether that means ‘this cannot be accomplished without changing the actual provisions of the Constitution’ [as the LDP suggests] in the final stages of the discussion. At this moment in time we do not have specific provisions that we believe ‘need to be revised.’” However, Edano also commented that the DPJ would keep a close eye on government moves during discussions in the Commission on the Constitution in the House of Representatives, stating, “We cannot endure further debate based on Prime Minister Abe’s view of the Constitution, but it still remains to be seen how the ruling LDP will actually decide to debate the issue in the Diet.”
Edano also commented on the government’s decision to order the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confiscate the passport of a Japanese freelance photographer who was attempting to travel to Syria. He said, “I can understand the government response. But I would like them to proceed very cautiously in order to ensure that they do not infringe upon the basic human rights of ‘freedom of the press’ and ‘freedom of movement’ more than is absolutely necessary.”
Edano went on to comment on the announcement by the central union of agricultural cooperatives, JA-Zenchu, that they would accept the government proposal to reform the JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives). He stated, “One point is that the organizational structure of the JA is supposed to be changed, but I wonder whether that really counts as a reform. It seems like a big fuss about nothing. The second thing is that while there are reforms the JA should undertake in order to modernize, these should be decided on after discussing the matter with those actually involved. It is totally unclear what impact the reform proposal will have on stimulating Japanese agriculture.” Edano added, however, that the party’s Next Cabinet would decide whether to vote for or against the bill after it had actually been submitted to the Diet.
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