JCP sends message to Germany's Party of Democratic Socialism Congress

The Japanese Communist Party Central Committee sent a message of greetings to the 2nd Session of the 8th Congress of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) of Germany held in Chemnitz from October 25-26. The following is a translation of the message published in Akahata October 27:

The PDS has made a critical review of what East Germany did in the past and has overcome various difficulties, leading to its major advance in the 1998 Bundestag election, which we hailed as one of the most splendid achievements ever made in the postwar political history of Germany.

All the more because of this, the setback the PDS suffered in the 2002 general election was very unfortunate. We hope that the PDS will actively work to recover the lost position in preparation for the 2006 election and that the 8th PDS Congress, which is expected to adopt the new PDS Program, will be successful in fulfilling the tasks you have set.

The JCP and the PDS, both working in developed capitalist societies to defend the peopleﾕs interests, are aiming for democratic change in politics and the economy with the goal of building a socialist society in accordance with the peculiar conditions of our respective countries. We will follow PDS activities, hoping that our two parties increase exchanges.

The JCP will hold its 23rd Congress in January and adopt the revised Party Program, taking into account the present conditions as well as the political and theoretical development the JCP has achieved during the last 42 years since it adopted the present JCP. At present, we are concentrating our efforts on achieving a JCP advance in the House of Representatives general election to be held in November as our most important political task in the run-up to the JCP 23rd Congress.

Cooperation between the JCP and the PDS is not limited to bilateral exchanges regarding each other's domestic activities; our two parties are working together on the issue of world peace. When the United States started the preemptive war against Iraq, governments and peoples of a great majority of the countries of the world expressed opposition to the war and united to demand that the U.N. Charter be defended, offering us important lessons for the future. It is increasingly important to build on the opposition to the Iraq war to further develop the international struggle to defend and even strengthen the international order of peace based on the U.N. Charter.

We hope that cooperation and friendship between our two parties will be further strengthened through common efforts to defend world peace and achieve social progress. Wishing you a great success in the PDS Congress. (end)