155th extraordinary Diet session ends

The 155th extraordinary Diet session closed its 57-day term on December 13. Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in a speech at a general meeting of the JCP Dietmembers Group on the same day called on them to make a springboard for a JCP advance in the upcoming elections.

Shii said that throughout the session, a sharp contrast has come to the fore between the JCP and other political parties in a deepening confusion arising from their lack of policy and clear-defined platforms.

The growing danger of a military attack against Iraq is a test for the political parties concerning their attitudes toward peace, Shii said.

He referred to JCP Central Committee Chair Fuwa Tetsuzo's visit to China in August and JCP International Bureau Director Ogata Yasuo's tour of six Middle Eastern countries in October. Shii said that these diplomatic activities are based on reason and are intended to influence world's governments to work for peace. He said that the JCP made good use of these experiences in its parliamentary discussions.

In analyzing the Koizumi government's response to the Iraq issue, Shii criticized the prime minister for expressing support for proposed U.S. attacks against Iraq. He said that the process of making a decision on sending an Aegis ship revealed that the prime minister is a vassal to the United States.

Shii said that the other focus in the Diet was on measures to defend the people's livelihoods and local businesses in the ailing economy. He stressed that the JCP proposed four urgent measures, and in parliamentary discussions showed the course for economic recovery. He said that the JCP argued that the government should create domestic demand by supporting the household economy and small- and medium sized businesses. Shii called on developing a nationwide action based on the four-point proposal which has become a common slogan of the popular struggle.

Shii summed up the Koizumi government's position in the Diet as "just summoning the Diet but failing to propose any measure to remedy the people's suffering or showing any feelings of compassion for the suffering."

Shii said that the Koizumi Cabinet is concerned only with the speeding up of write-offs of bad loans held by major banks. He pointed out that it has become clearer than ever that the write-off scheme is traitorous because it is intended to allow U.S. major investment banks and investment funds further access to Japan's banking and finance industry.

In conclusion, Shii said that the simultaneous local election is in four months, with the possibility of the Diet being dissolved for a general election in the House of Representatives. He called on JCP Dietmembers to go on the offensive in the upcoming struggle. (end)