January 26, 2012
Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko and Finance Minister Azumi Jun have been making the rounds of big business since early this year.
The Noda government is asking for support from large corporations in exchange for policies in their favor, including the resumption of operations of nuclear power plants (NPPs) presently under suspension and a consumption tax increase, to which public opinion are opposed.
Akahata of January 26 pointed out that this position of the Democratic Party of Japan government is exactly the same as that of the former Liberal Democratic Party of Japan government.
The prime minister on January 5 attended a New Year celebration jointly held by three economic organizations, and on January 15 dined with former Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) President Mitarai Fujio and on January 18 with the current Nippon Keidanren President Yonekura Hiromasa and private sector members of the national strategic council.
Other cabinet ministers and DPJ executives also visited business groups to hear their requests for a higher consumption tax rate, cuts in social services, smaller Dietmember quorums, a cut in salaries of public servants, and resumption of NPP operations.
The finance minister met with Japanese Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) Chair Hasegawa Yasuchika, who complained to the minister that the social programs have not been sufficiently weakened.
Maehara Seiji, DPJ Policy Research Council chair, in his lecture at Keizai Doyukai referred to financial and investment markets, and said that the key to responding in their interest is making a political decision to support fiscal reconstruction through a consumption tax increase.
Saying that the provision of electricity is important to economic activities and that an unstable power supply will drive production bases abroad, Maehara supported the logic of the business world to stay on course. He went as far as to say that the government is promoting the resumption of off-line NPPs’ operations, touting the DPJ policies in this regard.
The Noda government is asking for support from large corporations in exchange for policies in their favor, including the resumption of operations of nuclear power plants (NPPs) presently under suspension and a consumption tax increase, to which public opinion are opposed.
Akahata of January 26 pointed out that this position of the Democratic Party of Japan government is exactly the same as that of the former Liberal Democratic Party of Japan government.
The prime minister on January 5 attended a New Year celebration jointly held by three economic organizations, and on January 15 dined with former Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) President Mitarai Fujio and on January 18 with the current Nippon Keidanren President Yonekura Hiromasa and private sector members of the national strategic council.
Other cabinet ministers and DPJ executives also visited business groups to hear their requests for a higher consumption tax rate, cuts in social services, smaller Dietmember quorums, a cut in salaries of public servants, and resumption of NPP operations.
The finance minister met with Japanese Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) Chair Hasegawa Yasuchika, who complained to the minister that the social programs have not been sufficiently weakened.
Maehara Seiji, DPJ Policy Research Council chair, in his lecture at Keizai Doyukai referred to financial and investment markets, and said that the key to responding in their interest is making a political decision to support fiscal reconstruction through a consumption tax increase.
Saying that the provision of electricity is important to economic activities and that an unstable power supply will drive production bases abroad, Maehara supported the logic of the business world to stay on course. He went as far as to say that the government is promoting the resumption of off-line NPPs’ operations, touting the DPJ policies in this regard.
