Asked by a reporter why the party had decided to stop calling
its electoral platform a ‘manifesto’, Okada explained, “’manifesto’
translates as ‘platform for government’. In view of the fact
that the Upper House election is not a fight for a change of
government, we decided to use the expression ‘Our Promise to the
People’. In any case “Our Promise to the People” is an
extremely weighty expression. We have carefully wrote down
policies that are possible for us to fulfill.”
Okada was asked once more for his opinion on revising Article 9 of
the Constitution, which he had described as one of the “two main
points of debate” in the election. He responded, “I believe
that it is not necessary to revise Article 9 at present. Prime
Minister Abe is aiming to change Paragraph 2 of Article 9 to permit
unrestricted exercise of the right to collective self-defence. We
must not allow this to happen. It is directly opposed to the
pacifist principles of the Constitution.”
Okada announces The Democratic Party’s Priority Policies: Our Promise to the People
On June 15, DP President Katsuya Okada announced the DP’s
election platform for the forthcoming Upper House election: The
Democratic Party’s Priority Policies: Our Promise to the
People.
Okada stated, “Our era is now at a turning point. At
such a moment, there are two main points of debate. We have
set forth our actual policies in Our Promise to the People based on
these points.” He added, “There are eleven pledges included
in Our Promise to the People, but the two pledges on the back cover
“We Will Rebuild the Economy and People’s Lives” and “We Will
Protect the Pacifist Principles of the Constitution” have been
singled out and written separately. These two pledges themselves
will form the main issues in the Upper House election.”
Okada went on to say, “Prime Minister Abe has said that ‘The
DP have no concrete policies’, but to that I would reply, ‘Look
who’s talking!”. The basic premise of our economic policies is
achieving both growth and the distribution of wealth.” He
added that the DP’s basic philosophy had been produced after
approximately a year’s discussion in the Headquarters for
Constructing a Society Based on Mutual Coexistence headed by Deputy
President Akira Nagatsuma. He went on to criticize the Abe
administration for having in contrast only managed to come up with
a policy superficially similar to that of the DP, by calling for
the ‘dynamic engagement of all 10 billion citizens’
Okada stressed, “I would like you to read this for our
concrete policies, but I intend to continue stating that we have
produced policies that aim to thoroughly achieve ‘both growth and
distribution of wealth.’ Realising this goal will lead to
sustainable economic growth.”
Okada also commented on the foundation of the DP, and
particularly when he was asked whether his opinion that this was
the “last chance” remained unchanged. He replied that his
feelings remained unchanged, stating, “If we are not able to put a
stop to out-of-control Abe politics and change the direction of
politics at this Upper House election, then the current LDP
politics will probably in a very short space of time continue on in
a very extreme form. If we decide to turn right at this
crossroads, it will not be easy for us to retrace our path.
That is why I described this as our ‘last chance’.”
Both the LDP and Komeito have recently been using the phrase
‘a positive cycle of growth and distribution of wealth’, which is
similar to the DP’s ‘achieving both growth and distribution of
wealth’. Okada was asked what the difference between the two
was. He replied, “I would rather you asked Prime Minister Abe
that question. That is what I said in last year’s Prime
Minister’s Question Time…’positive cycle’ means that the fruits of
economic growth are distributed, in other words any excess tax
revenues will be applied to nursing care and child-rearing, but
this way of thinking is in itself a mistake. The division of
budget funds itself needs to be rearranged, and a stable source of
revenue should be obtained.”
Following this, Chair of DP Special Committee on key policies
for the Upper House election, Deputy President Nagatsuma, explained
the details of Our Promises to the People and Policy Research
Committee Chair Shiori Yamao explained the premises of each of the
eleven pledges.
Nagatsuma stated proudly, “We have asked for opinions from
Diet members and local assembly members to a degree unprecedented,
and produced this document. I am very proud of it…He stated
that the three pillars for achieving both growth and distribution
of wealth are “investment in people”, “a revolution in Japanese
work culture” and a “growth strategy” and added, “Our perception of
the issue is that ‘Growing inequalities and skewed distribution of
wealth and opportunities are preventing people from reaching their
full potential and obstructing personal consumption.’ The
fact that Prime Minister Abe has failed to pay attention to this is
the crux of the matter.” Okada went on to touch on the issues
of peace, politics and money, saying, “Currently, inequalities are
growing and the abilities of children and young people are being
crushed. I am afraid that Japan is starting to change into a
terrible polarized society. I would like shift to investment
in people through fair distribution of wealth, and by focusing on
this create a sustainable society and economy.”
Yamao explained about the eleven pledges set forth in Our
Promise to the People: 1. Economic affluence begins with enriching
ordinary people, 2. Children first, 3. Protect workers and change
the Japanese work culture, 4. Changing society through women’s
voices, 5. Preserving the peace of mind of seniors, 6. We will not
pass on the burden to future generations, 7. Reconstructing local
economies, 8. Reconstructing disaster affected areas and
strengthening disaster prevention, 9. We will defend our country
and contribute to the international community, 10. Defending the
pacifism enshrined in our constitution, 11. Defending the freedom
and rights of the people.
In addition, Yamao said “We have submitted sixty-four bills
sponsored by Diet members to the Diet during the ordinary Diet
session. I hear that fifty-six government-sponsored bills were
submitted, so we have submitted greater number of counter-proposals
than that. I believe this figure highlights the fact that ‘The
ruling parties are trying to evade counter-proposals’. I would like
us to campaign under the banner of being ‘a political party that
can produce counter-proposals’ while appealing to the public with
Our Promise to the People.”
Regarding the incursion into Japanese territorial waters by a
Chinese navy reconnaissance ship
Prior to the press conference to announce Our Promise to the
People, Okada commented to the press on the intrusion into Japanese
territorial waters by a Chinese naval reconnaissance ship in the
early hours of the same day. Okada stated, “The Japanese
government say that they are in the process of confirming whether
or not this is a case of ‘innocent passage’※but whatever the facts
of the matter, it is an extremely ambiguous action and I would like
to call on the Chinese government to ensure that acts that increase
tension in such a manner do not occur.” Okada expressed
concerns about the state of crisis management in the Prime
Minister’s Office, saying, “One wrong step and this could have
become a very serious incident. If this was in fact not a case of
innocent passage, then Japan would need to consider her territorial
security. The fact that both the Chief Cabinet Secretary and
the Prime Minister have gone to campaign in the regions, leaving
the Prime Minister’s Office empty, despite the fact that something
of this significance had occurred, is totally
disgraceful.”
A reporter asked Okada for his opinion regarding the fact that
the Japanese government had not issued a maritime security alert
order or issued a protest to the Chinese Ambassador. He
criticized the government for their lack of action, saying,
“[Considering the Chinese ship is said to have left Japan’s
territorial waters at approximately 5.30 am.] I find it
incomprehensible that the government still cannot determine whether
it was an innocent passage or not at this moment in time (1 pm on
June 15). The motivations of the Chinese are important, but
it is Japan who should make the judgement, and that should not be
determined by China’s view of the matter.”
※The right of any vessel to pass through the territorial
waters of another nation without giving advanced notice to that
nation, provided that it does not engage in any behaviour that
would damage the peace, order or security of that nation.
民進党国際局