June 23, 2011
The House of Representatives in its plenary session on June 22 passed a government bill to extend the current ordinary Diet session for another 70 days to August 31 with the approval of majority of legislators, including representatives of the Japanese Communist Party.
The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties voted against the extension by saying that it is still unclear when Prime Minister Kan Naoto will resign.
During his allotted question time prior to the vote, JCP representative Sasaki Kensho said, “In order to allocate an additional budget to assist in the recovery of victims’ lives and businesses from the March 11 disaster and to discuss the issues of compensation for the nuclear accident as well as withdrawal from nuclear power generation, extending the current Diet session is necessary.”
Sasaki also said that the objective of the extended Diet session should be to have a supplementary budget enacted, implement policies to solve the so-called “double-loan” problem many disaster victims are facing, and promote redress for the Fukushima accident. He added that it should not be extended to approve a consumption tax increase and an entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade pact, both of which will have a negative impact on the reconstruction efforts in the disaster-hit region.
On the same day at a news conference in the Diet building, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo said that during the extended-session of the Diet, the JCP will “conduct robust discussions regarding how to realize TEPCO’s swift compensation for the nuclear accident and whether to put an end to nuclear power generation.”
Criticizing the behavior of the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition LDP and Komei Party regarding the call for an extension, Shii said, “All of them are ignoring the needs of the disaster victims and are preoccupied with partisan warfare.”
Regarding a bill to issue a special government bond that the DPJ intends to have enacted during the extended Diet session, Shii said, “The bill is designed to cut two trillion yen in taxes for large corporations and the wealthy. The government should withdraw the bill in order to secure financial resources to revitalize areas hit by the disaster.”
The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties voted against the extension by saying that it is still unclear when Prime Minister Kan Naoto will resign.
During his allotted question time prior to the vote, JCP representative Sasaki Kensho said, “In order to allocate an additional budget to assist in the recovery of victims’ lives and businesses from the March 11 disaster and to discuss the issues of compensation for the nuclear accident as well as withdrawal from nuclear power generation, extending the current Diet session is necessary.”
Sasaki also said that the objective of the extended Diet session should be to have a supplementary budget enacted, implement policies to solve the so-called “double-loan” problem many disaster victims are facing, and promote redress for the Fukushima accident. He added that it should not be extended to approve a consumption tax increase and an entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade pact, both of which will have a negative impact on the reconstruction efforts in the disaster-hit region.
On the same day at a news conference in the Diet building, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo said that during the extended-session of the Diet, the JCP will “conduct robust discussions regarding how to realize TEPCO’s swift compensation for the nuclear accident and whether to put an end to nuclear power generation.”
Criticizing the behavior of the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition LDP and Komei Party regarding the call for an extension, Shii said, “All of them are ignoring the needs of the disaster victims and are preoccupied with partisan warfare.”
Regarding a bill to issue a special government bond that the DPJ intends to have enacted during the extended Diet session, Shii said, “The bill is designed to cut two trillion yen in taxes for large corporations and the wealthy. The government should withdraw the bill in order to secure financial resources to revitalize areas hit by the disaster.”
