LDP election platform promises tax increase and constitutional revision

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

LDP election platform promises tax increase and constitutional revision

The Liberal Democratic Party published its election platform for the August 30 House of Representatives general election on July 31.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized it as follows:

The LDP's catchphrase is 'secure living conditions', but they are the ones that have deprived the public of secure living conditions. They have destroyed employment ensuring that people can live with dignity. They have destroyed social services and created a society governed by the law of the jungle. They pretend to be ignorant about its responsibility for these consequences. Its promise of 'secure livelihoods' will be empty as long as it refuses to make any critical review of what it has done.

The LDP election platform clearly states that the consumption tax should be raised by 2011.

According to the LDP's midterm 'tax reform' plan, the consumption tax increase will be conditional on economic recovery. But the present LDP platform mentions nothing about such a condition. This means that whatever the economic situation, the LDP will try to get the bill enacted by 2011.

The JCP will put up firm opposition to raising the consumption tax.

The LDP has made it clear that Article 9 of the Constitution should be amended.

The LDP election platform at its end states that the promises in it should be implemented 'within four years, unless otherwise mentioned. This means that the LDP is intent on having the Japanese Constitution revised within four years.

I want to point out that there are two problems involved in the LDP plan to revise Article 9. One is that it is intended to make it constitutional for Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense after reviewing the government interpretation of the right of collective self-defense, which is prohibited by the Constitution. The other is that the LDP is seeking to establish a permanent law to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad without parliamentary approve in each case.

The LDP intends to complete the revision of Article 9 in a time frame of four years by completing these two tasks, the aim being to turn Japan into a 'war-fighting nation'. The JCP strongly opposes this plan.

The call for nuclear weapons to be abolished is spreading rapidly throughout the world, but the LDP election platform states nothing about this. How shameful it is for the ruling LDP platform to have no reference to the issue of nuclear weapons even after President Obama's call for a 'world without nuclear weapons'!

The LDP-Komei administration has even asked the United States to provide an extended deterrent. Its dependence on U.S. nuclear weapons is making it impossible for the LDP to mention the need to eliminate nuclear weapons. It is clear that the LDP is not qualified to be a ruling party.

LDP-Komei government policies are at an impasse because of its pro-business and Japan-U.S. military alliance-led policies. The LDP has no intention to get out of the impasse.

A ruling party should surrender power if it is unable to present the public with any positive prospect for the future.

- Akahata, August 1, 2009