Resolution of the JCP 23rd Congress (Draft)
(5th installment)

Part Eight: For New JCP Advances in Lower House General Elections and Upper House Elections

(26) Availing itself of the draft of the revised JCP Program and the draft Resolution of the JCP 23rd Congress, the JCP will use the upcoming House of Representatives general elections and the House of Councilors election scheduled for July next year to raise the issue of Japanﾕs course for the 21st century. At issue in this confrontation over Japanﾕs future course is whether we will allow the old framework of LDP politics to continue or achieve the JCPﾕs proposal for democratic change in Japan.

"How can we tolerate Japanﾕs subservience to the United States?" "How can we approve of such politics that do nothing but make our livelihoods more uncertain?" "How can we allow the Constitution to be adversely revised?" This is how many Japanese people feel about the contradictions of LDP politics. In the election campaign, we will raise these issues and put forward our proposal for a sweeping transformation of politics. The revision of the JCP Program was intended to complete the theory of democratic revolution. The revised JCP Program and this draft Resolution present real issues for the elections.

The JCP theory on a future society of socialism/communism, which has mostly been rewritten, will be an important basis for our efforts to let people know about the JCPﾕs outlook regarding an ideal society. We will make the best use of this developed theory in the election campaigns.

(27) In the upcoming political battles, we must achieve a new JCP advance because it will have great bearings not only on the defense of peopleﾕs living conditions and peace but on Japanﾕs general course for the 21st century.

First, the JCP is a party with a solid direction and concrete policy for changing away from LDP politics. Achieving a JCP advance is the only way to pave the way for meeting the peopleﾕs pressing demands for political change. The Japanese people from past experience know what would happen if a change in political power means a mere change of hands without change of policy. The Hosokawa government, which was in charge from 1993 to 1994, touted itself as "non-LDP", but what it actually did was carry out one unpopular policy after another, which even the LDP could not attempt to do. For example, it put forward a plan to increase the consumption tax rate, opened the Japanese market for foreign rice, and introduced the single-seat electoral constituency system and the government subsidy for political parties. After all this, the Hosokawa government collapsed because it found itself in the midst of a plutocratic scandal. This was a necessary consequence of a government that had declared that it would "take over the basic policy of LDP government." Experience shows clearly that slogans like "anti-LDP" or "non-LDP" cannot meet the peopleﾕs expectations if alternative policies are not presented.

The JCP is a political party firmly committed to fundamentally changing the old framework of LDP politics that is subservient to the United States and serving the interests of large corporations. Only by increasing the JCP representation in the Diet, can we meet the needs of the people for sweeping change in politics.

Secondly, the JCP's advance in national politics will contribute to supporting and developing popular struggles in every sector and reducing real hardships facing the people.

In recent years, the JCP has worked hard to eliminate forced overtime work without pay, and proposed to the government more than 200 times in the Diet to create a "law to eradicate unpaid overtime work." As a result, the struggle in cooperation with workers and their families forced the government to issue a directive aimed at eliminating the illegal practice, forcing the corporations to pay more than 15 billion yen in back pay for overtime.

The JCP has pushed forward the struggle to safeguard credit banks or credit unions and small- and medium-sized businesses affected by the government's policy of "early disposal of bad loans." This struggle has led to having the Financial Services Agency make a "finance inspection manual for small- and-medium sized enterprises," and create a system to guarantee financing for debt-renewal.

The JCP has carried out parliamentary struggles in cooperation with residents movements and local governments to make the nursing-care insurance system affordable. During the parliamentary discussions on the nursing-care insurance bill, the JCP insisted that small-income earners must not be excluded based on the premiums and fees for services and that systems be established to provide quality services. After the bill was enacted, the JCP on five occasions made proposals to the government for improving the system. The number of municipalities which have decided to reduce or exempt the amount of the premiums is 695, and 908 local governments have reduced service user fees. No party other than the JCP has taken up the issue of the care system for the benefit of low-income earners. Without doubt, the JCP proposals and discussions in the Diet on this issue have helped a great deal to improve the system.

On the war contingency legislation and the bill to send the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, the JCP led parliamentary debates to defend the Constitution and the U.N. Charter. Although the laws were forcibly enacted, the JCP discussion greatly helped develop the popular struggles. The JCP's advance in the coming general election is essential for preventing the laws from being invoked.

These are some of the JCP's achievements that have influenced national politics. Why is the JCP able to play such a role? It is because the JCP has a political line that can fundamentally change LDP politics which is subservient to the United States and in the interests of large corporations. Only by making the party for progressive change stronger, can we defend people's livelihoods and peace.

Thirdly, a JCP advance will pave the way for the establishment of a solid opposition front capable of changing LDP politics.

The present state of opposition parties has two aspects. One is that all opposition parties are supposedly "anti-LDP" which is essential for being regarded as opposition parties, and this serves as the common ground between the JCP and the other opposition parties. The JCP attaches importance to this point and is in favor of developing joint struggles in the Diet on issues agreed upon. The other point is that opposition parties other than the JCP do not have a strategy to break away from the political framework of the LDP-led government. The Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party are moving toward a merger without showing a strategy for change.

In particular, no opposition parties but the JCP are willing to abandon the political framework of the LDP by taking a stand on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, the so-called "structural reform" policy, and adverse revision of the Constitution. This is a major weakness opposition parties have. A JCP advance in the election will help to overcome this weakness and open a path toward building a common front of opposition parties to meet the needs of the people.

The JCP works to establish a democratic coalition government based on a united front instead of a one-party government. An increase in JCP strength in national politics will pave the way for building an alliance between parties committed to running a democratic government in the future.

The JCP's advance will accelerate the possibility of establishing a democratic coalition government and changing national politics.

(28) In putting up campaigns for the coming House of Representatives general election and the 2004 House of Councilors election, it is important for us to grasp the context in which the JCP has achieved advances, suffered setbacks, and made counterattacks in the last several years, and set appropriate goals.

In the national elections in the second half of the 1990s, we achieved the biggest ever JCP advance. The JCP received 7.26 million votes in the 1996 House of Representatives general election and 8.2 million in the 1998 House of Councilors election. Alarmed by these JCP advances, the reactionary alliance by the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties in early 2000 began concentrating their attacks on the JCP using deception and lies. That year, the JCP suffered a setback in the House of Representatives general election, with reductions in both the numbers of its seats and votes obtained. In the 2001 House of Councilors election, these anti-JCP attacks, joined by a rise in Prime Minister Koizumi's popularity that was described as a "Koizumi whirlwind", forced the JCP into an additional decline reducing the number of votes cast for the JCP to 4.33 million.

We are now working to regain lost ground and achieve a new JCP advance. In the simultaneous local elections in April, we seized an opportunity of taking the first steps in that direction, but the task is for us to turn the tide for a real offensive in the coming national elections. From this viewpoint, we need to establish our preparedness and goals for the next national elections as follows:

First, we should have in mind that we will start by taking a hard look at the balance of forces between political parties. Specifically, we need to keep in mind that our strength at the start of the present campaign is represented by the 4.33 million votes which we received in the 2001 House of Councilors election. The outcome of these national elections will be evaluated by strides we make from the present position.

Second, we will set ambitious goals for the national elections and do all what we can to achieve them. In the House of Representatives general election, we will make efforts to defend the number of seats the JCP has maintained and seek extra seats in proportional representation blocs. We will also carry out a struggle to win in single-seat constituencies. In the House of Councilors election, we will carry out campaigns to defend our present position and make further advances in both proportional representation and prefectural constituencies. We should try not only to increase the number of JCP seats but achieve the vote-getting goals in both elections.

(29) It is not easy for the JCP to be victorious in both the House of Representatives general election and the House of Councilors election. We must keep in mind that we will be able to secure the JCP seats we won in the previous election only when we accomplish the task of regaining our lost ground and winning extra seats.

We have now a great opportunity and favorable conditions that will enable us to achieve progress. It is important to put great energy in the effort to let the public know how important it is to achieve a JCP advance. We should recognize the reality of the present balance of power between political parties, but we must not regard it as fixed. What we need is to recognize that objective conditions are ripe for a dramatic change and boldly make efforts to make it happen.

As the failure of LDP politics is clear both domestically and externally, its organizational basis is crumbling more rapidly than ever. Everywhere, in cities and in rural areas, an increasing number of voters are politically uncommitted. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that they account for about 50 to 60 percent of all eligible voters.

An analysis of recent opinion polls shows that those politically unaffiliated voters say they are critical of present LDP politics. Many of them feel insecure about their lives and express strong dissatisfaction with the government's economic policy that fails to find a solution. They are also very critical of the Iraq war launched by the United States and Britain and the government's support for the war and its plan to dispatch the SDF to Iraq as requested by the United States.

The JCP must begin with sharing the common concerns and needs with politically uncommitted voters and reach out to them in the common quest for Japan's course in the 21st century. If we do this, we create the possibility and conditions for increasing such cooperation. While steadily increasing our influence among former JCP supporters, we should also reach out to politically uncommitted voters or supporters of other parties. Support from these people is decisive in determining the outcome of the elections.

It is essential to defeat anti-communist attacks as we try proactively to shape the course of political change. Present anti-communist attacks are being carried out by the forces of reaction with anti-communism as an integral part of their strategy. Their main aim is to prolong the LDP's dominion. Even if the LDP is forced out of power temporarily, all they need to do is suppress the JCP in order to ride over the tough times by playing a farce like the one they showed in the past in the name of "political realignment" as a means of maintaining the repressive power structure. The JCP needs to work to break free of such anti-communist attacks.

The revised JCP Program (draft) says, "A democratic coalition government can be established through struggles backed by a majority of the people to defeat obstructions and resistance from the present ruling forces that represent the regime led by monopoly capitalism and Japan's subordination to the United States." The JCP defines the struggle to defeat the anti-communist attacks as one of the tasks the JCP Program establishes to pave the way toward a democratic coalition government. The JCP will further strengthen this effort.

(30) The JCP's campaign strategy for the general election is stated in detail in the decision of the JCP Central Committee 6th Plenum. We will pay special attention to the following points:

- Put emphasis on the proportional representation election -- In the campaigns for both the House of Representatives general election and the House of Councilors election, the JCP throughout the country must keep in mind that priority must be given to efforts to win a substantial increase in the JCP's voting strength as well as the number of JCP seats. The focus of the election campaign must be on activities to inform the public of the JCP's political line and distinct policies, the achievements it has made, its history and perspective for the future, and thus win larger support for the JCP.

The single-seat constituency is a system in which all parties compete for people's support for national policies and is a basic unit for campaigning to win voters' support for the party in the proportional representation election. Their central effort should be directed to increasing the number of votes cast in the constituency for the JCP and contribute to a major increase in the JCP votes in proportional representation election. Such efforts, combined with the activity to win the single seat of the constituency, need to be made systematically whenever circumstances allow and possibilities exist.

- Emphasis on activities to achieve people's demands -- The JCP election campaign basically focuses on the promotion of its general activities based on four principles. The number one point is that the JCP should carry out day-to-day activities with the public to defend people's interests and increase the influence of the JCP. This is the basis for all JCP efforts to win the people's support. Our experience in the simultaneous local elections was that anti-communist attacks could not obtain results easily wherever the JCP was carrying out activities based on residents' needs. Our important task is to wage the struggle to meet the needs of the Japanese people concerning major national political issues, including the defense of peace and living standards and daily needs in workplaces, local communities, and on campuses. We must try to strengthen our ties with the public through the struggle to achieve these demands and take advantage of such connections with the public to bring about a JCP victory in the election.

The JCP's prospective candidates have an important role to play in the activity to meet the needs of the public. Together with our candidates for proportional representation elections, the 300 candidates for single-seat constituencies should use their wisdom and strength to strengthen their ties with voters and win their confidence through efforts to realize the common needs in each single-seat constituency, the basic unit for the national election campaign.

- We reach out to all voters -- The simultaneous local elections have taught us important lessons for election campaigns. They are about how to effectively promote grassroots activities, including dialogues with voters to increase support for the JCP, the use of posters, handbills, hand-held microphones, and JCP supporters' associations, and the JCP recruitment drive.

One need is to complete grassroots activities, including dialogues to increase support within the set time frame in the early stages of the election campaign. The proposal to complete this task at the early stage of the campaign means that JCP members should not postpone earnest efforts until after the election campaign officially starts, with everyone seeming to save their energy for the last three days. This proposal has encouraged JCP members to show new vigor. The dissolution of the House of Representatives for a general election is not yet definite. However, a general election in November is highly likely. In the 40 days that follow this Central Committee Plenum, the JCP should advance the grassroots activities necessary for a JCP advance, and move further toward a victory by carrying out the various tasks necessary for a major JCP advance.

The other is to increase face-to-face talks with voters based on common feelings as the backbone to organizational activity, using every possible means to approach voters. The activity to repeatedly reach out to voters and call for their support for the JCP by the use of JCP supporters' association newspapers has the influence to renew the previous style of activity. The number of members of JCP supporters' associations has reached a record 2.5 million. It is essential to methodically encourage these members into activity and to further increase members. It is also essential for every JCP branch to have a supporter association to work with. A weakness shown in the simultaneous local elections in placing too much emphasis on the need for face-to-face talks caused a lag in making phone calls asking all eligible voters to support the JCP. In preparing for the general election, it is necessary to unify these two aspects.

In pursuing this activity, efforts should be made to carry out the systematic organizational activity proposed by the JCP Central Committee 6th Plenum: the use of residential maps and voters names.

- Activity in preparation for the House of Councilors election -- The House of Councilors election is scheduled for July 2004. Fifteen JCP seats are up for election, the largest ever number in this election. In the next 10 months we must methodically carry out preparations as we work for a JCP victory in the House of Representatives general election.

In the proportional representation election under the non-binding list system, the JCP and its proportional representation constituency candidates should work to get more than the record 8.2 million votes in order to successfully defend the present 8 seats and even win extra seats. For this reason, winning voters' confidence in the JCP should be at the center of the activity. The 11 House of Representatives proportional representation blocs need to be divided into districts so that voters in the districts can be asked to write the name of a JCP candidate on the ballot. Our campaign in single-seat constituencies should focus on securing the re-election of the seven incumbent House of Councilors members. It is necessary to work out positive and aggressive plans for their reelection, and the candidates and JCP bodies should together carry out systematic campaign strategies. (To be continued)