Ruling And Opposition Parties Assess Abe's Tenure
Leaders of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito have praised Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's achievements, while opposition party leaders said Abe failed to follow through on many issues.
Leaders of the LDP and its junior coalition partner, and opposition parties looked back on Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's tenure on an NHK TV program on Sunday, two days after Abe announced his intention to resign, citing worsening health.
LDP Upper House Secretary-General Seko Hiroshige said Abe's economic policies, popularly known as Abenomics, were effective in rapidly recovering the stock market and corporate earnings.
He said the effective economic policies led to increased tax revenue and pulled the nation's economy out of deflation.
He said Abe was instrumental in dramatically improving the employment situation and boosting wages.
He also said new security legislation Abe put forward enables the country to partially exercise its right to collective self-defense. He added that Abe created environment where the Japan-US security arrangement can work effectively in the challenging security situation surrounding Japan.
Constitutional Democratic Party Secretary-General Fukuyama Tetsuro said Abe failed to tackle many economic issues. He said an overwhelming majority of jobs Abe said he created are non-regular work. He said the nation's economy remains deflationary.
Fukuyama said there was little progress in the planned Aegis Ashore missile defense system deployment and issues involving US military bases in Okinawa.
He then said the ruling and opposition parties should work together to restore a government in which they keep each other in check.
