DPJ sacrifices important bills to improve its election prospects
(From The Japan Times June 19 issue)

重要法案成立より参院選重視の民主党

As the latest Diet session ended June 16 without an extension, political parties' campaigns for the July 11 Upper House election have shifted into top gear. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan's approach to the Diet session showed that it was ready to sacrifice important bills to improve its election prospects.

The opposition forces demanded that the Diet session be extended to allow the Budget Committee of each house of the Diet to hold a three-day session to deliberate on new Prime Minister Naoto Kan's basic policies. The DPJ refused to do so, however, believing it should start a full-scale election campaign while people still have a favorable sentiment toward the Kan administration and the DPJ in the wake of the resignations of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, whose reputations were damaged by funding scandals.

While the DPJ's strategy may pay off in the Upper House election, the party's refusal to extend the Diet session resulted in the scrapping of important bills to reform the national servants system, battle global warming and reform Japan Post.

The funds scandals, the Futenma air base relocation issue and the poor economy made it difficult for the Hatoyama administration to skillfully manage Diet affairs. Mr. Kan did not give detailed answers when questioned by representatives of opposition parties in plenary sessions of the Diet. He needs to examine what went wrong with the Hatoyama administration and learn how to avoid such problems. He also needs to explain in concrete terms how to achieve his goal of realizing "a strong economy, strong finances and strong social welfare" despite the nation's worsening financial conditions.

通常国会が会期延長なしで閉幕し、参院選に向けての選挙活動が本格化している。民主党は勝算を高めるために重要法案を犠牲にする姿勢を見せたといえる。

予算委員会が菅新総理の基本方針を審議するための時間が必要と国会延期を提案する野党に対し、民主党は支持率が高いうちに選挙戦に入るべきとの考えからそれを拒否、公務員制度改革や地球温暖化対策、郵政改革などの重要法案が成立しなかった。

政治資金問題、普天間基地移設や不況に苦しんだ鳩山政権はうまく国会業務を果たせなかった。首相は鳩山政権の失敗の原因を分析し、二の舞を避けるべきだ。強い経済、財政、社会保障という方針をどのように実現するのか具体的に説明する必要もある。