Shii on the streets calls on voters to support JCP

   Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on July 23 called on about 13,000 people gathered in front of JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to vote for the JCP and its candidates in the upcoming House of Councilors election.

   “The JCP is a party with the firm conviction to confront the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties’ policies and represents the public interest on all issues, including the pension system, taxation, political corruption, and constitutional revision,” said Shii.

   He appealed to passers-by to support the JCP by saying, “Please carefully consider which party can put brakes on the LDP-Komei government and change the current policies.”

   Tamura Tomoko, a JCP House of Councilors candidate in the Tokyo constituency, also spoke.

   A 57-year-old woman who was listening to Shii said, “My 64-year-old husband paid pension premiums for 18 years but he cannot receive pension benefits because it fell short of the minimum required period of payment.”

   “I was impressed by Tamura who criticized the government policy of cutting back the child-rearing allowance for mother-child households,” said a government employee.

   A 42-year-old woman said, “The residential tax was drastically raised. If the consumption tax rate is also raised, I don’t know how I can survive. I hope the JCP will advance in the election.”

   A woman childcare worker said, “I refuse to go back to the prewar days and be forced to send my children to war.”

   “I’ve come to realize that the JCP’s policy of defending Article 9 is rooted in the party history consistently seeking peace since the prewar days,” said a 67-year-old man who listened to the speech.          - Akahata, July 24, 2007