RULING COALITION PUSHES EDUCATION BILL THROUGH

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 006595 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2016 TAGS: PGOV JA PGOV PREL SUBJECT: RULING COALITION PUSHES EDUCATION BILL THROUGH LOWER HOUSE REF: TOKYO 05568 Classified By: CDA JOE DONOVAN Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (U) The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and Komeito Party ruling coalition on Thursday pushed a controversial bill to revise the 1947 Basic Education Law through the lower house despite opposition party efforts to delay deliberations until after the November 19 Okinawa gubernatorial election. The opposition parties boycotted the vote in the lower house and were absent from the upper house plenary session Friday in a failed bid to extend deliberations. The upper house will start debating the bill next week and will likely approve it during the current Diet session ending on December 15. Proposed amendments to the law include emphasizing traditional values, volunteerism, and patriotism as educational ideals, in an attempt to revitalize Japan's troubled educational system. ¶2. (C) Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro Ozawa is apparently seeking to use the debate over the education bill to influence the Okinawa gubernatorial election with aim of defeating LDP candidate Hirokazu Nakaima. DPJ Research Committee Deputy General manager Kenji Sasaki told a Tokyo Embassy official that Ozawa's opposition to revising the education bill has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with the election. Ozawa is trying to bolster support for the opposition-backed candidate by convincing Okinawans that the Abe Cabinet, by revising the education law, is leading the country closer to the right, LDP International Bureau Director Miyako Ito, speculated. The opposition hopes that an LDP loss in Okinawa would weaken the Abe cabinet and bolster the DPJ's chances the upper house election next year. ¶3. (C) The ruling coalition's decision to push the bill through the lower house without opposition support will probably have little impact on the strength of the Abe administration. The ruling coalition spent over 100 hours debating the bill in the lower house and incorporated some of the DPJ's recommended changes, according to LDP International Bureau Director Miyako Ito. Japanese media coverage on the lower house's decision to pass the bill was balanced and the impact in Tokyo appears low. Moreover, if the LDP waited to pass the bill, and lost the election in Okinawa, it would have become even more difficult, according to Ito. LDP leadership did not want to risk damaging the Abe cabinet by failing to pass the bill during the current Diet session. DONOVAN