"Extremely flippant" control of Fukushima politics!

(Contrôle "extrêmement désinvolte" de la politique sur Fukushima)

 Japanese Parliament 

"The government will continue efforts to address the problem with multiple preventive measures using the world’s wisdom," Abe told a plenary session of the House of Representatives. "The situation has been under control as a whole." Abe’s repeated no-cause-for-alarm assessments of the situation at the Fukushima plant, which suffered three reactor-core meltdowns shortly after it was hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and monster tsunami, are raising the eyebrows of critics who regard the condition as worrying and warn of possible negative fallout on the environment and industries," the Japan Times writes today.

Not so in control actually. In the new 185th Lower House session special committees, the Parliament MPs committee overseeing the work of the nuclear energy safety commission 原子力問題調査特別委員会 and nuclear related issues, is to disappear. If confirmed and if no MP is eager to impose rigorous Parliament control's tools on the monitoring of the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, then what a big surprise. Seen as an added outrage by the Parliamentary opposition.

Fukushima is on everyone and global security radar screens, here especially with the nuclear refugees/evacuees… and abroad with the safety risks imposed on Japan and its neighbouring countries such as China, Korean peninsula, the Asia Pacific nations and the Asian seas community.

Banri Kaieda DPJ, opposition.

Banri Kaieda, head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan questioned on Wednesday the prime minister Abe on Fukushima at the Diet and according to a Diet watcher:

"Abe was short on explaining to the Diet what the government is going to do, now that "it (not Tepco) is in full charge". Abe reiterated that the government will play a major role in addressing the water problem (including taxpayers money potential financial assistance for the utility) not leaving the task to the Tepco's utility alone.

Taro Aso and Shinzo Abe yesterday

Nevertheless in regard to a proper democratic functioning of Japan politics, axing the committee while Fukushima crisis is developing, is a political error, "maybe a different one [committee] would have been less prone to misunderstanding" as a Japan based commentator told me. The number of Lower House special committees is limited to 10.

Japan opposition leader Kaieda stated that Shinzo Abe, as a prime minister, should be more careful about assessing the situation at the plant, criticising his remarks as being "extremely flippant!" EoQ.

 Anti nuclear demonstrator