 Shii: Prime minister's policy speech dismisses people's demands The 161st extraordinary Diet session opened on October 12 for 53 days up to December 3. It is the first Diet session under the second reshuffled Cabinet of Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro and will discuss the Iraq War, political donations and political corruption, and the relocation of U.S. forces in Japan. Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro delivered his policy speech and declared that the "structural reform" policy should continue. Regarding postal service privatization, a centerpiece of his "reform" agenda, he said that the bill for it will be submitted to the next ordinary session of the Diet. Later in the day, commenting on Prime Minister Koizumi's policy speech, Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo pointed out that concerning the issue of "money and politics", Koizumi just emphasized the importance of ethics, without proposing any specific steps to end the string of political scandals involving money. "His remarks on the pension issue completely ignored the call of the overwhelming majority of the public for thorough discussions," Shii said. On the realignment of U.S. military bases in Japan, Shii stressed that the prime minister's speech disclosed his continued subordination to the U.S. "military transformation" policy. Shii also criticized the prime minister for "failing to address his political responsibility for supporting the Iraq War by swallowing the U.S. allegation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction." Shii summed up his comment as follows: "On all issues, the prime minister presented nothing to meet the needs of the people and resolve their concerns and anguish. He only spoke about policies that force the public to pay more and put the public in a more dangerous situation." (end) |