Monday, September 29, 2008

Policy Speech by Prime Minister Taro Aso to the 170th Session of the Diet

Prime Minister Taro Aso delivered a policy speech to a plenary session of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors at the 170th session of the Diet.

At the start, the Prime Minister said, "Japan must be strong. Japan must be bright. To the future of Japan and of the Japanese people, peace and security; to people's daily lives, stability and hope; and dreams for our children's future -- I am keenly aware that my proper duty lies in bringing these about and rendering them rock-solid. It is thus that I sacrifice myself in order to discharge my duties as Prime Minister."

Then, the Prime Minister indicated that he would take up the issue of rebuilding the Japanese economy in three phases of "reviving business activity," "fiscal reconstruction," and "growth through reforms" On peace of mind in people's daily lives, he emphasized, among other matters, the need to ensure the correctness of pension entitlements, to consider revisions of the medical care system for people aged 75 years and over, and to establish an Agency for Consumer Affairs that stands in the position of consumers and protects their interests.

To conclude, Prime Minister Aso said, "What I ask of this House is for consultations on the policies of the ruling and opposition parties. Given the many challenges both at home and abroad, we would abdicate our responsibility to the nation if we were needlessly to fritter time away. In addition to an economic slowdown, we now face a financial crisis stemming from the United States. Is it not the responsibility of politics to the nation to enact as soon as possible the supplementary budget that we proposed, which underpins the implementation of the Comprehensive Immediate Policy Package, and the bill to compensate for the shortfall in fiscal resources to be used for regional roads?"

Related Link

• Policy Speech by Prime Minister Taro Aso to the 170th Session of the Diet