Sanae Takaichi, the Prime Minister of Japan, is planning to cut her own salary and that of cabinet members to share economic pressure with the people.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (Sanae Takaichi) plans to reduce her own and her cabinet members' salaries, demonstrating a willingness to share the economic burden and the responsibility of future economic reforms with the people. Specifically, she proposes that she and her cabinet members retain only the basic salary of elected members of the National Diet—Japanese cabinet members are all members of the National Diet.
Evidently, the workload of the prime minister and cabinet ministers far exceeds that of ordinary legislators: they need to lead important government departments, handle large volumes of information, conduct diplomatic negotiations, and take personal responsibility for their decisions. The additional allowances they currently enjoy are based on this extra work—and in my view, the amount is not excessive. Here are the specific figures:
The monthly salary of a member of the Japanese Diet is 1.294 million yen (approximately $8,300 at the current exchange rate); the prime minister receives an additional allowance of 1.152 million yen (about $7,400); and regular cabinet ministers receive an additional allowance of 499,000 yen (approximately $3,200).
A related bill to amend the law to implement the reduction of cabinet members' salaries is currently under review. Prime Minister Takaichi's decision was influenced not only by her own considerations but also significantly by the smaller party in the ruling coalition—the right-wing populist party "Nippon Ishin" (Japan Innovation Party).
This party advocates cutting public sector wages by 20%, achieving cost savings by reducing the number of civil servants and plans to use the saved funds to increase aid to disaster-affected areas. At the same time, cutting the salaries of cabinet members aims to show the public that they are not merely laying off staff, but are also willing to make sacrifices themselves.
It is worth noting that "Nippon Ishin" is a special coalition partner: this party does not send representatives to the cabinet and only supports the government in voting in the Diet. In other words, this party can easily exit the coalition, which gives "Ishin" significant leverage to pressure Prime Minister Takaichi.
In fact, salary cuts are common in Japan: even private company bosses will voluntarily reduce their salaries when business projects face major setbacks. After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in the spring of 2011, cabinet members also reduced their salaries to express solidarity with the affected people. However, such measures are usually temporary, while this time the Japanese prime minister plans to permanently reduce her own and cabinet ministers' salaries in order to gain widespread public support.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850919547620352/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.