The ruling coalition and opposition parties have reacted to Ishiba’s policy speech.
LDP Secretary-General Moriyama Hiroshi said: “It was a very powerful statement. Prime Minister Ishiba called for a ‘Japan where everyone can feel safe and secure’. Our party will back him strongly.”
Komeito Chief Representative Ishii Keiichi said: “It was a policy speech expressing his own words and thoughts. We are going to ask him about a range of issues, including measures against high prices, measures against the declining birthrate, and disaster prevention and mitigation measures.”
The Constitutional Democratic Party President Noda Yoshihiko said: “We don’t often hear this sort of speech these days, full of abstract notions. I was confused about what he is asking of the people. He pledges to protect citizens and rural areas, but he should prioritize keeping his promises.”
Nippon Ishin Japan Innovation Party Representative Baba Nobuyuki said: “The speech was thin on policy, with no real specifics being mentioned. It was also delivered without passion. There was nothing of note. He seemed to conceal remarks that reflected the opinions of the people.”
Japanese Communist Party Chairperson Tamura Tomoko said: “I was really surprised by the lack of content in this speech. It was only a list of issues. Given how difficult life has become, especially with prices set to rise in October, specific policies are needed, yet there was not a single mention of this.”
Democratic Party for the People President Tamaki Yuichiro said: “I have listened to many policy speeches, but this was the least substantive of all. It conveyed no sense of Ishiba’s color. It was arid, and as blank as chewing gum with no flavor.”
Yamamoto Taro, the leader of Reiwa Shinsengumi, said in a statement, “Ishiba will raise taxes in the near future. And the economy will slip back into recession, since he is an economic illiterate. Disaster-hit areas and the Japanese people will be discarded.”
Questions from each party on Ishiba’s first policy speech are scheduled for next Monday in the Lower House and Tuesday in the Upper House. In addition, both the ruling and opposition parties are considering holding a leaders’ debate at the Diet on Wednesday.