On March 2nd, the government passed its 2001 fiscal year budget draft in the House of Representatives unrevised, sending it to the House of Councilors without examining a joint demand from the opposition parties to rewrite it. Regarding this, RENGO released a statement by the Secretary General on March 6th criticizing "an impermissible and outrageous attitude to push through the budget without hearing the public's voice."

It is an unforgivable outrage that the government ignored the voices of the people who expected measures for the declining economy and increasing anxiety over employment, and forced its own budget draft through by a majority.
The people are seething at the inquiry in the House of Representatives Budget Committee over corruption in the Liberal Democratic Party's politics such as the "KSD graft " and "slush fund scandals." The nation further resents the LDP's political crisis management and their political attitudes.
In the government's budget draft, measures are entirely insufficient for our record high unemployment and anxiety over the future. Further, there is no hint of self-recrimination for the years of maintaining a policy of doling-out public works projects, nor is there evidence of any ideas for drastic structural reform of the government/local government's massive long-term obligations.
RENGO is seeking the following for inclusion in the government's 2001 fiscal year budget plan:

1. that the following be earmarked: more than 1.4 million job creating projects led by the government/local governments, drastic enforcement of job training for people who left their jobs, and outsource job training projects for new graduates without jobs.
2. that the government's liability on basic pensions be raised to one half and that medical system reform be carried out.
3. that public projects be rewritten into ones that relate to people's lives, and so on.

The four opposition parties led by the Democratic Party of Japan submitted the "opposition parties joint demand to rewrite the budget." However, the government completely ignored these representative voices of the working citizens to ramrod their own budget draft through by a majority and the Budget Committee Chairperson manipulated the Diet on his own authority.
RENGO will never allow such autocratic politics by the LDP-led ruling coalition. RENGO will work diligently in the House of Councilors to rewrite the government's budget plan demanding drastic measures against record-high unemployment, measures to revive personal consumption, and also earmark measures to promote employment and the stabilization of living. At the same time, RENGO will strongly demand the replacement of the Mori Cabinet/ruling coalition of the LDP, New Komeito, Conservative Party government that has consistently ignored the people and manipulated the Diet for its own political motivation. In its place we will seek the establishment of a new government that gathers the voice of the people. (summarized)