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Ishihara must withdraw his anti-U.N. remarks

On September 28, Muramatsu Mieko, Japanese Communist Party representative used her questioning at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly plenary session to urge Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro to retract his anti-U.N. Charter remarks.

The previous day, Ishihara had said, "Only idiots support the U.N. Charter."

Muramatsu stated: "Mr. Governor, you denied and insulted the United Nations Charter, which in its Preamble and Article 1 states, 'We the peoples of the United Nations determined to maintain international peace and security,' thus making clear that U.N. members must refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and that 'all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force' and that the use of force must be 'consistent with the "Purposes of the United Nations".' Thus, all member countries are joining their forces in support of these principles for world peace."

She also said, "The remarks you made yesterday are absolutely unacceptable. You are the representative of the Japanese capital of Tokyo, where many residents fell victim to the war of aggression. I admonish you for making such an inappropriate statement and demand that you apologize to all Tokyo citizens and retract it."

Governor Ishihara answered, "No matter what the U.N. Charter states, the U.N. is in a corrupt situation and there remain the distorted structure and steering that allow victorious countries in World War II to maintain their privileged position even 60 years since the war's end. Isn't it time to stop worshipping the United Nations?"

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The Democratic Party of Japan in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on September 28 requested that the governor deal with this matter discreetly. -- Akahata, September 29, 2005