Yukio Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, on Wednesday called Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's policy speech "mere rhetoric."
Although it was full of his eagerness for administrative, education and fiscal reforms, the lack of specifics shows the government's intention to postpone tackling those issues, the leader of the largest opposition party said.
Mori showed his enthusiasm for fiscal structural reform, but he failed to present a specific vision as to how he would deliver and maintained that the government will concentrate on boosting the economy for the time being, Hatoyama said.
Asked how he would grade Mori's policy speech, Hatoyama said, "About 40 to 50 points" out of 100.
"It is shameful that the first policy speech of the century was sprinkled with apologies about recent scandals," he added.
Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Liberal Party, also criticized Mori's policy speech, saying that it was a patched-up effort by bureaucrats.
"As always, the biggest problem is that (the policy speech) lacks the prime minister's own vision," Ozawa told reporters.