Statement by Yasuchika Hasegawa, Chairman of Keizai Doyukai
On the Newly Reshuffled Cabinet led by Prime Minister Noda

October 1, 2012

Yasuchika Hasegawa
Chairman, Keizai Doyukai

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The members of Prime Minister Noda's third reshuffled cabinet were announced today. We face a myriad of domestic and foreign issues, including the earliest possible reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Under such circumstances, the new cabinet urgently needs to make timely decision on these issues as well as ensure the steady implementation of necessary policies.

In particular, I believe the cabinet has a responsibility as the governing party to realize the earliest possible enactment of carryover issues from the previous Diet session, namely, the bill on the issuance of deficit-covering bonds and a bill to reform the electoral system.

In addition, the cabinet should be fully aware that they can no longer procrastinate on critical issues, such as the national debate on the social security system reform, which is expected to reach a conclusion within a year, and Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiation. The government and the ruling party should work together towards realizing swift decisions and implementation through joint efforts to promote substantial debate and consensus making among the parties.

Japanese version