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At issue is a major advance of JCP, the only reliable opposition: Shii on general election

Following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on August 8, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo took to the streets and called for support for the JCP, stressing that this election offers the voters an opportunity to pass a critical verdict on the Koizumi government's undemocratic policies. The JCP is determined to win a major advance by halting the JCP's decrease in seats in the recent national elections, he said.

"Let's realize the voters' call for the Koizumi government to be replaced with a genuinely trustworthy government," Shii shouted.

Together with JCP candidates running in the Tokyo proportional representation bloc, Shii was making his first public speech after the Diet dissolution in front of the Shinjuku Station terminal crowded with workers on their way home in the evening.

Shii commented that the House of Councilors' rejection of the postal privatization bills proved how unjustifiable it is and how arrogant Koizumi is in dealing with the Diet. He criticized the prime minister for opting to dissolve the House of Representatives only to satisfy his desire to have the unpopular bill enacted.

As regards the "two major parties" issue, Shii stated that whether the winner of the election will be the LDP or the Democratic Party, the present stalemate will continue to worsen. The need is now for Japan to have an influential and reliable opposition party in the Diet.

Shii announced that the JCP will show the public that it is the only party capable of dismantling the deadlocked LDP regime.

Shii called on passers-by, "Vote for the JCP as the only tested opposition party for better living conditions and peace. At issue in this general election is a JCP advance which will pave the way to change Japan's politics." -- Akahata, August 9, 2005