JCP starts increasing effort to rally support in preparation for snap general election

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP starts increasing effort to rally support in preparation for snap general election

The Japanese Communist Party’s central leadership on September 15 issued an appeal urging all party organizations and members to quickly begin the effort to win as many supporters as possible in preparation for the possible early dissolution of the House of Representatives for a general election.

Pointing out that the ruling parties are reportedly moving to prepare for the possible official start on October 14 of campaigning for an October 26 election, the appeal called on all JCP organizations and members to make every effort to win supporters in numbers larger than their targets.

In addition to campaigns in the streets targeting all voters, it is necessary to reach out to voters for discussion so that we can win as many voters as possible over to the JCP, the appeal stated.

On September 16, JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi announced 138 JCP candidates for single-seat constituencies of the House of Representatives (*) at a press conference in the Diet building. They include 56 who will also be in the JCP’s proportional representation lists.

Ichida said that the upcoming general election will be the first since the JCP revised its election policy to one of running candidates in a limited number of single-seat constituencies so that the party can concentrate on campaigning for victories in the proportional representation election.

“In order to receive more than 6.5 million votes, which we need to be victorious in the proportional representation election, we must make every effort to create a surge in support for the JCP well as to bring a breath of fresh air into single-seat constituencies,” he said.

Ichida also announced that the JCP has decided to run Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji in the general election from Kyoto Prefecture’s first (single-seat) constituency. “This district is where the JCP must prevail without fail. The party will do whatever it can to secure his election”, he added.

In the October 7 Kyoto City assembly by-election in the city’s Minami Ward, a part of Kokuta’s constituency, a JCP candidate was elected, receiving 2,000 more votes than a candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

(*) The 480-seat House of Representatives is made up of 300 members elected from 300 single-member constituencies and 180 members elected from 11 proportional representation blocs. The JCP currently has nine seats in the House of Representatives.

- Akahata, September 17, 2008