ID :
86927
Fri, 10/30/2009 - 23:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/86927
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U.S. base issue continues to haunt Hatoyama Cabinet at Diet
+
TOKYO, Oct. 30 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet again faced harsh criticism from
opposition lawmakers on the third and final day of Diet interpellations Friday
over its evasive stance on the status of U.S. forces in Japan and the
relocation of a U.S. base in Okinawa.
At a plenary session of the House of Councillors, Aiko Shimajiri of the main
opposition Liberal Democratic Party blasted the Cabinet for taking an
''extremely shaky'' and ''irresponsible'' stance on the relocation of the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa and bewildering local people.
She demanded that the Cabinet reach a consensus on the issue immediately.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the opposition New Komeito party, also accused
Hatoyama of failing to provide a specific vision on what sort of relationship
his government is seeking to develop with Washington when the government says
it will seek ''close and equal Japan-U.S. relations.''
Hatoyama and Cabinet members such as Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense
Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have made comments on the Futemma issue that differ
from each other and have been blamed by the opposition camp in the Diet over
the past two days for having confused people both in Okinawa and in Washington.
The previous LDP-led government agreed with the United States in 2006 to
relocate the Futemma base in Ginowan to Nago, another city in Okinawa, but the
Hatoyama government, which took office in mid-September, has pledged to
''review'' the plan to ease the burden on local people and has suggested that
the facility should be moved out of Okinawa.
Washington has pressed Tokyo to stick to the existing deal, but Hatoyama has
only repeated the same line -- the new government led by his Democratic Party
of Japan needs to examine the past process leading up to the deal before making
any decision.
Okada told the plenary session that the DPJ was not fully informed of the past
negotiations between Japan and the United States and that he will not reach a
conclusion until he is satisfied that he has fully examined the negotiation
process.
Regarding support for Afghanistan, Hatoyama said he has no intention of sending
the Self-Defense Forces to help reconstruct the conflict-ravaged country
instead of the current refueling mission by Maritime Self-Defense Force
vessels.
Hatoyama also indicated his intention to create a new system to expand the
scope of government relief for people suffering from radiation-related
illnesses linked to the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
His remarks came amid calls for further easing the recognition standards for
sufferers of radiation-related diseases to receive state benefits.
The prime minister also denounced the structural reforms spearheaded by former
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as a ''serious sin'' that ''made Japan an
arena in which the weak are victims of the strong and ripped apart regional
bonds.''
The Koizumi reforms, which include postal privatization and deregulation of
labor markets, have frequently been blamed for widening disparities between the
rich and poor as well as between urban and regional areas.
Hatoyama, meanwhile, expressed his eagerness to grant foreign people with
permanent residency the right to vote in local elections, but also stressed
that deeper discussions are needed before doing so, calling it a ''serious
issue related to the state's foundation.''
Hatoyama renewed his government's pledge to scrap gasoline and other
road-related tax surcharges as well as to abolish highway toll charges to
revitalize regional economies, shrugging off claims that they would hamper
another government promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent
from 1990 levels by 2020.
Asked why he thinks the non-LDP government in the early 1990s was short-lived,
Hatoyama said it was simply because it failed to wrest control from bureaucrats
and continued depending on them in policymaking.
The Morihiro Hosokawa administration, the first ever government not led by the
LDP since the party was established in 1955, lasted only for about eight months
from August 1993.
''It is not that bureaucrats did something wrong,'' Hatoyama said. ''But we
need a leadership that makes the best use of (their capabilities)'' instead of
depending on them.
==Kyodo
2009-10-30 23:37:43
TOKYO, Oct. 30 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet again faced harsh criticism from
opposition lawmakers on the third and final day of Diet interpellations Friday
over its evasive stance on the status of U.S. forces in Japan and the
relocation of a U.S. base in Okinawa.
At a plenary session of the House of Councillors, Aiko Shimajiri of the main
opposition Liberal Democratic Party blasted the Cabinet for taking an
''extremely shaky'' and ''irresponsible'' stance on the relocation of the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa and bewildering local people.
She demanded that the Cabinet reach a consensus on the issue immediately.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the opposition New Komeito party, also accused
Hatoyama of failing to provide a specific vision on what sort of relationship
his government is seeking to develop with Washington when the government says
it will seek ''close and equal Japan-U.S. relations.''
Hatoyama and Cabinet members such as Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense
Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have made comments on the Futemma issue that differ
from each other and have been blamed by the opposition camp in the Diet over
the past two days for having confused people both in Okinawa and in Washington.
The previous LDP-led government agreed with the United States in 2006 to
relocate the Futemma base in Ginowan to Nago, another city in Okinawa, but the
Hatoyama government, which took office in mid-September, has pledged to
''review'' the plan to ease the burden on local people and has suggested that
the facility should be moved out of Okinawa.
Washington has pressed Tokyo to stick to the existing deal, but Hatoyama has
only repeated the same line -- the new government led by his Democratic Party
of Japan needs to examine the past process leading up to the deal before making
any decision.
Okada told the plenary session that the DPJ was not fully informed of the past
negotiations between Japan and the United States and that he will not reach a
conclusion until he is satisfied that he has fully examined the negotiation
process.
Regarding support for Afghanistan, Hatoyama said he has no intention of sending
the Self-Defense Forces to help reconstruct the conflict-ravaged country
instead of the current refueling mission by Maritime Self-Defense Force
vessels.
Hatoyama also indicated his intention to create a new system to expand the
scope of government relief for people suffering from radiation-related
illnesses linked to the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
His remarks came amid calls for further easing the recognition standards for
sufferers of radiation-related diseases to receive state benefits.
The prime minister also denounced the structural reforms spearheaded by former
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as a ''serious sin'' that ''made Japan an
arena in which the weak are victims of the strong and ripped apart regional
bonds.''
The Koizumi reforms, which include postal privatization and deregulation of
labor markets, have frequently been blamed for widening disparities between the
rich and poor as well as between urban and regional areas.
Hatoyama, meanwhile, expressed his eagerness to grant foreign people with
permanent residency the right to vote in local elections, but also stressed
that deeper discussions are needed before doing so, calling it a ''serious
issue related to the state's foundation.''
Hatoyama renewed his government's pledge to scrap gasoline and other
road-related tax surcharges as well as to abolish highway toll charges to
revitalize regional economies, shrugging off claims that they would hamper
another government promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent
from 1990 levels by 2020.
Asked why he thinks the non-LDP government in the early 1990s was short-lived,
Hatoyama said it was simply because it failed to wrest control from bureaucrats
and continued depending on them in policymaking.
The Morihiro Hosokawa administration, the first ever government not led by the
LDP since the party was established in 1955, lasted only for about eight months
from August 1993.
''It is not that bureaucrats did something wrong,'' Hatoyama said. ''But we
need a leadership that makes the best use of (their capabilities)'' instead of
depending on them.
==Kyodo
2009-10-30 23:37:43
