February 19, 2026

Following the inauguration of the second Takaichi Cabinet, the Japanese Communist Party on February 18 held a general assembly of its Dietmembers. JCP Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko criticized Prime Minister Takaichi’s plans to create conditions for a constitutional revision referendum, describing them as “absolutely unacceptable”.

Tamura warned that the Takaichi government is seeking not only to adversely revise the Constitution, but also to review the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, completely lift the arms-export ban, enact an anti-spy law, and deploy long-range missiles. She called on the JCP parliamentarians, stating, “Let us actively engage in Diet debates and develop a national movement at the grassroots level to prevent the government from turning Japan into a war-capable state.”

The JCP EC chair added that the campaign promises - substantial wage increases and shorter working hours by correcting the extreme concentration of wealth, and cuts in the consumption tax rate by taxing the rich – that the JCP had promoted in the latest House of Representatives election should be realized. She told the JCP lawmakers to work even harder to achieve these pledges in solidarity with the labor movement and other diverse movements.

Prior to the JCP Dietmembers’ general assembly, a special Diet session was convened. Takaichi Sanae, the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was reelected as prime minister, and she reappointed all ministers from her first cabinet.

The LDP won a landslide victory in the general election. Consequently, Takaichi secured an overwhelming majority of votes in the designation of the prime minister in the Lower House, winning over three-quarters of the total. JCP representatives voted for their chair, Tamura.

Meanwhile, in the Upper House where the ruling coalition is in the minority, the first round of voting fell short of a majority. The JCP voted for Tamura in the first round and cast blank ballots in the runoff.