 |
 |
2015/03/01
DPJ holds 2015 party convention, vows to stress ‘Focus on Livelihoods’ and ‘Starting from the Regions’
|
 |
|
|
On March 1, the DPJ held its 2015 party convention at a Tokyo venue. President Katsuya Okada was unable to attend as he was receiving treatment for a recurrence of a detached retina. Acting President Renho read out his message to the convention.
In the message, Okada said that in the month since he had been elected as President he had managed to develop a “non-partisan” leadership team. He expressed his resolution, saying, “This team will make every effort to rebuild the party and restore public trust, under the two main pillars of ‘women’ and ‘the regions’. It will be a difficult journey but we will join forces with people from local communities around Japan and overcome our difficulties one by one.”
Okada positioned April’s unified local elections as the first step in this journey, and called on the party to make renewed efforts toward realizing an increase in the number of seats held by the DPJ in local communities around Japan. He expressed his intention to campaign under the banner of: “Focus on Livelihoods” and “Focus on the Regions”. Okada stated that “We will put ourselves in the shoes of citizens, and work to revitalize Japan, with rebuilding people’s lives and rejuvenating the regions as our point of departure. The DPJ has taken the part of people living in various local communities and consistently implemented policies which emphasize the actual people involved. This time, we have chosen as our slogan for the campaign the phrases “Seikatsu Kiten”(Focus on Livelihoods) and “Chiiki Kiten”(Starting from the Regions) as key words to express this basic stance as well as our policies which emphasize the regions.”
The closing parts of Okada’s message were as follows: “We will strengthen our support base in the unified local elections, oppose the Abe administration in Diet debate, and launch a counterattack in next year’s House of Councilors’ election and the next general election. We will demonstrate that the party is united in working toward the realization of a society built on mutual coexistence, one in which people support each other and which respects diverse values, and will restore public confidence and public expectations. We will listen to opinions from the regions, and work to rebuild our party under non-partisan leadership. I hope that this convention will be one where we can pledge our determination to gain victory in the unified local elections and take a large step forward toward rebuilding our party. Let’s work together for those goals.”
Following this, Secretary General Yukio Edano gave his report to the convention, which included the “DPJ Action Plan for 2015”. He said, “This convention will set forth the new direction to be taken by Okada’s DPJ, and will ensure that we take a firm step forward on the path to rebuilding our party under a non-partisan leadership team.” He stated “Fiscal 2015 is an important year for us to complete the rebuilding of the party and to establish a clear way forward.” Edano said that the Okada executive would take the proposals for “regional voices” and “women’s power” which had been put together by the DPJ Revitalization Panel last summer, as an impetus for relaunching the party after the defeat in the 2012 general elections.
Edano said of the current Diet debate, “There are a huge number of important issues on the table, such as economic policy, people’s livelihoods, including the issue of disparities, the legal framework governing work, the basic energy plan, nursing public finances back to health and battling the wasteful use of taxpayers’ monies.” He stated, “We will discuss [these issues] thoroughly within the party, come to decisions at the appropriate time, debate with the Abe administration based on these conclusions and present a choice to the public.” In particular, he said that the DPJ would come to a conclusion about the government’s proposed national security legislation when appropriate, and unite to oppose it.
At the end of his address, Edano stated, “I would like this to be a year in which the DPJ goes on the offensive so as to enable us to reoccupy the position of the party of reform and of one of the two parties capable of governing the nation.” He closed by calling on those present at the convention to approve the convention proposals and to cooperate with the party’s efforts to gain victory in the unified national elections.
The party Action Plan, and the budget and accounts proposals were approved by an unanimous round of applause from the convention floor.
|
|
|
| ▲このページのトップへ |
|
