`Fraternity` key concept of Hatoyama`s policy speech in Diet

TOKYO, Oct. 20 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama eyes vowing to realize a society modeled on his
pet concept of ''fraternity'' in his first policy speech to the Diet next
Monday, government sources said Tuesday.
In the speech to be delivered to both houses of the Diet on the first day of
the extraordinary parliamentary session, he plans to stress a focus on policies
that emphasize people's livelihoods and grant more power to local governments
as set out in the campaign platform of the Democratic Party of Japan.
He will also promote employment policies that take current difficulties into
account, the sources said, adding that on foreign policy issues Hatoyama will
avoid clarifying his position on relocating a U.S. military base on the
southern island of Okinawa -- one of the thorniest topics between Japan and the
United States.
The government plans to fine-tune the prime minister's speech at the Cabinet
committee meeting on basic government policies on Wednesday, in which the
leaders of the DPJ's coalition partners who also serve as ministers will
participate.
Hatoyama is believed to prefer to use his ''own words'' in explaining to the
people his government's policies at home and abroad, rather than merely
presenting policy after policy as past prime ministers have done, one of the
sources said.
Hatoyama took office on Sept. 16, following the DPJ's victory over the then
ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a national election in late August.
The extra Diet session, to open more than a month after his coalition
government was launched, will be his first legislative period as prime
minister.
In the speech, Hatoyama will stress the drive to eliminate waste in the
government through such venues as the Government Revitalization Unit, while
promising to review extreme market fundamentalism and realize an economy not
biased toward economic purposes, the sources said.
As a concrete measure, the speech will stipulate the creation of monthly
allowances for child-rearing families and support measures for small and
midsize firms.
He is also likely to declare the implementation of new measures to prevent the
economy from sinking into another downturn, while alluding to employment
measures, including programs to avert a housing crisis toward the end of the
year, the sources added.
On decentralization, the prime minister plans to drastically change the
relationship between the central and local governments to realize the
decentralization of power in a substantive way, the sources said.
The speech is expected to include measures intended to revitalize local
economies, including an initiative in the DPJ's manifesto to provide income
support to households engaged in agriculture.
On foreign policy, Hatoyama will map out his ''East Asian community'' concept,
declaring at the same time his desire to play a key role in bridging the
developing and developed worlds, and Asia and other parts of the world, the
sources said.
The prime minister will stress the need to take anti-global warming measures by
reiterating his pledge to cut Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent
from 1990 levels by 2020 if all other major emitters also agree on ambitious
targets.
Hatoyama will also show his resolve to take the lead in dealing with the global
economic crisis and in efforts toward nuclear disarmament, the sources added.
==Kyodo