Ishihara not qualified as capital's governor

A Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member on March 4 said that the series of anti-peace, anti-Constitution, and anti-human rights remarks the Tokyo governor made in the past four years since his inauguration raise questions about Governor Ishihara Shintaro's qualification as the Japanese capital's head.

JCP Yoshida Nobuo used his question time at a closing metropolitan assembly meeting to criticise Ishihara for his statements, including the one that "Japan should approve the U.S. military action against Iraq," which Ishihara said on a radio program on February 25.

Pointing out that the statement runs counter to the people's wish for a peaceful solution of the Iraq question, Yoshida demanded that Governor Ishihara retract the remark. Ishihara refused to retract his statement.

As a matter that has a bearing on the foundations of democracy, Yoshida criticized the governor's remarks hostile to the Constitution. Last December in a metropolitan assembly session, Ishihara argued that the Japanese Constitution has little historical legitimacy and that the present Constitution should be changed by any means. He even said the constitutional procedure can be ignored in order to amend the Supreme Law.

Ishihara defiantly declared, "I don't care if my remark is violating the national obligation to stand by the Constitution or not. I just don't approve of that Constitution."

Referring to the governor's comment that tramples on fundamental human rights, Yoshida said that the governor's assertion that "The most harmful thing civilization has brought about is 'Baba' (extremely impolite way to express middle-aged and old women in Japanese)," illustrates Ishihara's shameful ideology. (end)