The ordinary Diet session has begun and four speeches were given by the government, including Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s policy speech. The session lasts until June 26, during which several events will take place, such as a referendum in Okinawa, local elections, by-elections for the Osaka 12^th Constituency and the Okinawa 3^rd Constituency for the House of Representatives and enthronement of a new emperor. Elections are scheduled for the House of Councilors in July and the consumption tax rate will be raised in October. Political battles are being held earnestly.

OPPOSITION PARTIES MUST ACCUSE GOVERNMENT OF MISCONDUCTS

Government never gives up constitution amendment

As the premier’s speech says, the government is to evade from political confrontation to approve the Fiscal 2019 budget plan. The draft is characterized by money-throwing measures and free-of-charge childcare supports to enjoy justification of the consumption tax rate surge. The ruling parties are ready to escape accusations on the ‘statistics fraud’; they are to close the dispute with ‘a ceremonial apology and a reply of further investigations’.

The government prepares to present in total 58 bills to the Diet, which is the second least figure in the history. As for amendment of the constitution, it concedes, saying that it would expect deeper debates by political parties.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abe showed confidence to be successful in the negotiation talks with Russia on the territorial issue and told his determination to have a summit meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). He declared ‘to develop new defense capabilities’ for the initial year of the New Defense Guidelines, and asked for understanding of his plan to raise the consumption tax rate to ensure ‘social security measures to benefit all generations of the population’.

Thus the government plans in coming autumn to stage ultimate attacks so as to revise the constitution after breaking down accusations in the Diet. It may present a policy to put off again the surge of the consumption tax rate or a decision to hold simultaneous elections for both the House of the Representatives and the House of Councilors.

Less benefit due to fraud

The opposition parties get ready to tackle with the government in terms of the statistics fraud, the revised Immigration Act and the new military base at Henoko, Okinawa. Benefit payments for unemployment and labor accidents are calculated on the basis of the Monthly Labor Statistics, and therefore, the deception has impacted on 20.15 million people in total, which means recipients had been paid less. This reminds us of a case of ‘disappeared pensions’.

On the other hand, however, concerning salary data, they were manipulated to be higher, which was proven after secret investigations of figures from January 2018. The government attempted to fabricate ‘successes’ in the Abenomics economic policy. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Welfare hastily corrected figures and sacked officials engaged in the fake calculations. The opposition political parties get united so that the government would not veil blunders conveniently.

Prime Minister did not refer in the speech to the revised Immigration Act, which was approved coercively without sincere debates. No explanation has been given about some provisions of the law on which examinations had been made after closure of the last Diet session. Though the Act will take effect in April, necessary budgetary steps for municipalities are left intact. Municipal officials and company managers are worrying about how to respond to newly coming foreign nationals. The government regards foreign workers as cheap labor force, in other words, it considers they are not humans but things. The government must be condemned.

As for the new military base at Henoko, the construction plan was altered as the seabed was soft and weak. Although former Governor Onaga Takeshi had annulled the approval because of the weak seabed, the Abe government admits the fact now. It is an opportunity to cancel the construction works, taking advantage of the referendum to come late February.

Get back money from reduced corporate taxes!

The opposition political parties can use this timing, but a clear strategy is absent how to cope with the surge of consumption tax rate and the draft budget. Regarding the consumption tax, it is not enough to object the raise, but to propose; for instance, to get down to 5% and return money to people from the discounted corporate taxes. It is necessary to unveil deceptions lying in the Abe’s ‘social security measures to benefit all generations of the population’. The opposition forces are not strong enough.

In the draft budget an extraordinary increase is found in the defense expenditure.

As for issues on the Korean Peninsula, the government incites hatred among people against Republic of Korea (ROK), using the compensation issue to Korean slave laborers who had been forced to work during the WWII and the recent radar irradiation incident by the ROK vessel. The Japanese Self Defense Forces, in response, even made threatening flights over the ROK naval ships. Anticipating late February the second-round summit meeting between the US and DPRK, the Abe government must be criticized rightly.

February 5, 2019