DPJ subservience to US and business world underlies PM resignation

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

DPJ subservience to US and business world underlies PM resignation

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on June 2 stated that the resignation of Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio “was due to public anger.”

In an assembly of the JCP Dietmembers’ Group held soon after Hatoyama’s announcement to step down as Prime Minister, Shii pointed out that Hatoyama, in the end, accepted the plan to construct a new U.S. base in the Henoko district of Nago City in violation of his election promise to move the U.S. Futenma base out of Okinawa or even out of Japan and that he decided to transfer U.S. military training exercises to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture and mainland Japan. “He has betrayed the public trust,” said Shii.

He stressed the need to further develop the struggle to remove the Futenma base without condition by saying that an agreement Hatoyama made with the United States to build a new base in Nago City “will not disappear with his resignation. It will be the continuing agreement even after he has left the office.”

Regarding the money scandals involving Hatoyama and DPJ Secretary General Ozawa Ichiro, Shii said, “They haven’t fulfilled their responsibility to tell the truth before the public. They can’t expect to just get away with it by stepping down from the DPJ No.1 and No.2 positions.” Shii pointed out that it was the DPJ itself that has been refusing to summon Ozawa as a sworn witness and obstructing the attempts to look into the allegations, and demanded that the whole truth be revealed.

Furthermore, Shii criticized the DPJ for having postponed the abolition of the discriminatory healthcare insurance program for the elderly aged 75 and over and for trying to pass the Worker Dispatch Law full of loopholes.

“Not only Hatoyama and Ozawa but also the entire DPJ should be held responsible for all these on-going issues. The party cannot regain the public trust only by replacing its leadership,” stated Shii.

He said, “The reason why the Hatoyama government betrayed the public is because the DPJ, in principle, cannot disobey the United States and the financial circles.” The U.S. Futenma base issue “clearly shows how subservient the DPJ is towards the United States” while a conflict with the general public in the livelihood-related issue illustrates the DPJ’s unwillingness to oppose the interests of the business world.

Shii called on the JCP lawmakers to “achieve a major advance in the Upper House election and cause a shift from conventional politics by introducing policies that can boldly represent the public interests and not the interests of the United States and the business community.”

- Akahata, June 3, 2010