Shii calls on all JCP members to strive for JCP advance in election

Japan Press Weekly

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

Shii calls on all JCP members to strive for JCP advance in election

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a meeting held in the JCP head office on June 14 gave a pep talk to all JCP members and supporters, suggesting how to assess the new government and advising how to engage in the campaign to achieve a JCP victory in the upcoming Upper House election.

Shii first pointed out that the resignation of Hatoyama was one step forward to a new political phase and that the newly-formed Kan Cabinet is trying to draw a curtain on its shared responsibility for the sharp increase in political distrust of the DPJ among the general public with the demise of the previous Cabinet.

The V-shaped recovery in the public support rate of the new government does not mean that the public approves the policies the new prime minister has put up. It is just because the new lineup in the Cabinet looks like it has been shed of Ozawa disciples, Shii stated.

Kan is seeking to keep his government stable and viable for the long-term by taking an even more subservient attitude toward the United States and large corporations than Hatoyama did. For instance, Kan pledged his loyalty to the U.S. government by telling President Obama on the phone that the new Japanese government will steadfastly carry out the latest Japan-U.S. agreement on the relocation plan of the U.S. Futenma base within Okinawa. He is also considering increasing the consumption tax to make up for a loss in tax revenues caused by the further tax breaks for large corporations in response to the request of the Japanese business world.

The Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the People’s New Party, and other newly-formed minor parties all appear to be confused in regard to how they should react to the Kan government. Only the JCP, working in the interests of the general public, can straightforwardly confront the DPJ-led government, Shii emphasized.

Shii called on all JCP members and supporters, in the upcoming election campaign, to criticize the Kan government based on the available information, appeal to voters that the JCP can boldly speak up against the United States and the financial circle, sincerely listen to questions and opinions raised by voters directed to the JCP, and make efforts to provide them with clear and easy to understand responses so that they can better understand the position the JCP takes on any given issues of concern.

Shii also stressed the significance of holding a lot of small meetings at the grassroots level and recruiting many more people to join the JCP during the election campaign.

- Akahata, June 15, 2010