At beginning of Diet session Shii calls for struggle to show JCP's presence

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At beginning of Diet session Shii calls for struggle to show JCP's presence

The Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers Group held its general meeting on September 26, the first day of the Extraordinary Session of the Diet. JCP Chair Shii Kazuo pointed out the dangerous nature of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's policies and called for a major struggle to display the value of the JCP seats, focusing on three issues.

Taking a critical view of Abe's understanding of history, Shii stated that Abe has refused to stand by successive governments' position of expressing apology and remorse for "Japan's colonial rule and aggression." Shii stated, "Abe's stance is even more reactionary than that of former Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro," and emphasized the JCP's determination to confront it.

The second major issue is revising the Constitution as well as the Fundamental Law of Education. Shii said that Abe's demand for enabling Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense indicates more clearly than ever that his true aim of constitutional revision is nothing other than turning Japan into "a nation ready to fight wars abroad." Pointing out such new developments, Shii called for Diet discussions and people's movements to be strengthened so as to block Abe's plans.

The JCP chair stressed the significance of making use of the Tokyo District Court decision in the Diet discussions against the government bill to revise the education law. He was referring to the recent district court ruling that it is unconstitutional for the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education to force teachers to stand up for the Hinomaru and sing Kimigayo at school ceremonies.

Shii criticized Abe's reactionary educational plan to establish a nationwide system in which (1) students can choose the public school they attend regardless of which districts they are living in, (2) the government can monitor and evaluate each public school with school inspectors, and (3) the government can allocate budgets based on the evaluations and close schools with poor evaluations.

Pointing out that what Abe is seeking through the revision of the education law is to impose unrestrained state control on education as well as create an educational system based on competition and screening, Shii called for all-out efforts to scrap the bill to revise the law.

The third criticism regards people's living conditions. Shii criticized Abe's policy of creating a society that allows a "second challenge" as being impractical since Abe shows no reflection over Liberal Democratic Party policies that have caused the widening gap between rich and poor in the first place.

Shii also stressed the importance of examining the basic structure of the tax system, opposing an increase in the consumption tax rate and demanding a revision of the excessive corporate tax cuts.
- Akahata, September 27, 2006