LDP and DPJ get high marks in business circles' ratings

Akahata of November 4 reported that the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), Japan's influential business organization, presented its ratings of election platforms of the political parties at a meeting of its member organizations on October 27.

The JBF policy priorities by which it decides the amount of donations to make to parties, mainly focus on whether a party supports economic policies, including a taxation system that reduces burdens on large corporations by shifting them onto the people.

With this criterion, the JBF rates LDP policies as "very good," Democratic Party of Japan policies as "good," and Japanese Communist Party policies as "very bad and incompatible with our interests."

On September 25, a month before the general election, the JBF drafted the policy priorities in order to get their policies reflected in election platforms.

Both the LDP and the DPJ came up with policies that satisfied business leaders' requests by including many policies that will benefit business circles such as proposals to privatize the postal service and to increase the consumption tax rate in order to fund social services.

JBF president Okuda Hiroshi stated, "The LDP is on the same wavelength as the JBF." However, he also stated that there is no major difference between the DPJ and the LDP on economic policy. (end)