JCP presents 17-million signatures to Diet

During the 155th extraordinary Diet session (Oct. 18-Dec. 13, 2002), Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers presented 16.746 million or 57 percent of all signatures in petitions to the Diet.

The JCP endorsed the largest number of petition signatures among all parties in the Diet, followed by the Democratic Party which presented 6.236 million signatures (21.28 percent), the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party.

The Japanese people have the constitutional right to petition the government. Diet members submit petitions to the Upper or Lower House, and then, the petitions are referred to each committee concerned.

15.68 million people signed education-related petitions for more funding for private schools or a maximum class size of 30 students. The JCP members endorsed 92 percent of them or 14.45 million. Signatures for those petitions make up 51 percent of all the signatures the Diet received.

The Diet also received more than 780 thousand signatures for the petition against the wartime legislation. (end)