JCP Ichida comments on Okinawa’s prefectural assembly election results

Japan Press Weekly

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JCP Ichida comments on Okinawa’s prefectural assembly election results

At a news conference on June 9, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi commented on the results of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly election on June 8, in which the JCP increased the number of its seats to five from three (see separate item).

“I want to express deep thanks to the many voters for their support of JCP policies. The JCP will make full use of the right to initiate bills in the prefectural assembly (given to a political party with four seats or more) in order to bring about greater benefits to Okinawans.”

The prefectural assembly election was not only about prefectural issues. Major issues included national issues such as the medical insurance system for the elderly aged 75 and over that separates them from the existing medical insurance system covering the entire family and the construction of a state-of-the-art base for U.S. forces in Okinawa, he added.

Now that the JCP, which has strenuously fought against the adverse medical insurance system and called for the withdrawal of the plan to construct a new U.S. base, won a major advance, both the national and prefectural governments must sincerely accept the public judgment in this election, Ichida stated.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura Nobutaka at his press conference on June 9 conceded the ruling parties’ defeat in Okinawa, saying that it is undeniable that the introduction last April of the new medical insurance system exclusively for the elderly aged 75 and over contributed to their defeat.

JCP Ichida stressed that the opposition bill to repeal this medical insurance system, which passed through the House of Councilors, must be discussed and voted on in the House of Representatives.

Ichida criticized the conservative Okinawan administration under Governor Nakaima Hirokazu for raising the tuition fees of prefecture-run high schools, for example, as a failure to defend Okinawans’ living conditions.

The JCP is determined to work harder in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly by making full use of its right to propose legislation, including legislation to reduce the national health insurance premiums, which are very high in Okinawa, and ensure that children can receive free medical care until they finish junior high school, Ichida stressed. - Akahata, June 10, 2008