Parties stake out their positions

参院選の争点

The two-hour debate brought into sharp focus a pattern of confrontation between the camps over reform of the public pension system, participation of Japanese troops in a U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq and other contentious issues.

In a Kyodo News poll last month, 50 percent of the respondents said they would give top priority to pension reform in casting their ballots. They mentioned, in order of importance, economic recovery, constitutional revision, North Korea and Iraq.

An Upper House election, unlike a general election for the Lower House, is not a direct contest for power. This, however, does not detract from the value of Upper House election promises. Going into the last general election in November, main parties published "manifestos" to make themselves more accountable for their promises. They should do the same this time around. For the governing parties, it is necessary to make clear how much progress they have made toward achieving the goals of their November manifestos.

During the debate June 21, which was attended by the heads of five parties, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, president of the Liberal-Democratic Party, tried to put the best face on his "structural reform" initiative, saying it has produced solid results, such as a steady economic recovery, bad-debt writeoffs by banks and a decline in the jobless rate. He defined the forthcoming election as a referendum on his reform agenda. One disadvantage for him is the persistence of sectoral and regional gaps in economic performance.

Mr. Takenori Kanzaki, head of New Komeito, has played up the party's achievements, saying it has played a vital role in improving the social security system and revitalizing the economy during its four years and eight months as a member of the governing coalition. Komeito is a "party of action," he said, indicating that this will be its key slogan in the upcoming poll. Mr. Kanzaki painted a rosy picture of progress toward the party's manifesto objectives.

The opposition, meanwhile, challenged the governing coalition on pension reform and troop deployment in Iraq. The heads of all three parties — the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the Socialist Democratic Party — called for the abolition of the pension-reform legislation that the governing parties rammed through the Diet earlier last month. The DPJ proposed the unification of different pension programs and the creation of a new pension-specific consumption tax.

The JCP and SDP maintain that the government should guarantee minimum or basic pensions, with the focus on economically disadvantaged people. A big difference from the DPJ is that both parties call for cuts in defense and public works spending as ways of securing revenues.

Prime Minister Koizumi repeated that he will not raise the 5 percent consumption tax while he is in office. His tenure as LDP president expires in September 2006. Considering, however, that his unpopular pension-reform plan faces drastic change, it may not be realistic to rule out a rise in the tax rate. All party heads agreed on one thing: that the preferential-pension program for Diet members — which is financed 70 percent by the state — should be "reviewed."

As for the Iraq issue, Mr. Koizumi justified his decision to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq, saying it was the right choice to eliminate the threat of terrorism and establish a democratic regime in Baghdad. Regarding the participation of Self-Defense Forces troops in the multinational force, he asserted that it does not involve any constitutional problems. However, he offered no convincing explanation about a previous government position that ruled out SDF participation in such a military coalition.

Mr. Koizumi emphasized that SDF troops will engage only in humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, but he failed to dispel concerns that they might end up using force in connection with security assistance activities such as transporting U.S. troops. Nor did he give clear-cut assurances about Japan retaining its command in the multinational force. These are grave matters that should be explained in detail in the election campaign.

The Japan Times Weekly
July 3, 2004
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      共同通信の調査によれば、有権者は重要度順に、年金改革、景気回復、憲法改正、北朝鮮、イラク問題に重点を置いている。

      昨年の衆院選挙では、各党が公約として「マニフェスト」を発表したが、今回の参院選でも同様の発表をすべきだ。

      党首討論では、小泉首相（自民党総裁）は景気回復、銀行の不良債権処理の進捗、失業率低下などを「構造改革」の成果と強調、参院選を改革に対する国民投票と位置づけた。公明党の神崎代表は、同党は連立与党の一員として社会保障制度改革と景気回復に重要な役割を果たしたと述べた。

      一方、野党陣営では、民主党、共産党、社民党は与党が国会で強行成立させた年金改革法案の廃案を求めた。民主党は年金制度一元化と消費税の福祉目的税化を提案した。共産党、社民党は、防衛費、公共投資の削減を財源として低所得層に重点を置いた基礎年金の導入を提案した。

      小泉首相は、在任中は消費税を引き上げないと約束したが、年金改革案に大幅変更が必要となれば、消費税増税の可能性を排除するのは現実的ではないかもしれない。

      各党首はまた、現行の議員年金制度は「見直す」必要があることで一致した。

      駐イラク自衛隊の多国籍軍参加問題について、首相は憲法上問題ないと主張したが、これまで参加を認めなかったこととの整合性について納得できる説明はなかった。

      首相は、自衛隊は人道援助、国家再建支援活動のみを行うとしながら、米軍兵士を輸送するなどの活動中に武力を行使する状況に巻き込まれる可能性について明確な回答をしなかった。自衛隊が多国籍軍に参加しながら日本独自の指揮権の下で活動するという矛盾についても確答を避けた。

      これらの問題は選挙運動中に詳細に説明する必要がある。