Japan Press Weekly

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Drive Aso government into a corner in the struggle to defend working people’s lives

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo gave the following speech at the rally held as part of the November 13 day of action calling for eradication of poverty, creation of decent jobs, and the resolution of the crisis of living conditions:

Hello, everyone! On behalf of the Japanese Communist Party I extend my greetings of solidarity to all participants from around the country.

Prime Minister Aso Taro has been under severe public criticism and unable to make a decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. If he continues to delay the decision, he will have to face more difficulties. His cabinet has decided to provide two trillion yen in cash handouts to every citizen, but it has been unable to arrive at a conclusion as to who will be the recipients and who will not. This shows clearly that the Aso government is in its final stage before collapsing. We will see political developments in connection with the possible dissolution of the House of Representatives for a general election.

This is why, the JCP joins forces with you to call for people-first policies to be established through the next general election while demanding the eradication of poverty and resolution of the crisis of deteriorating living conditions by developing the struggle across the country to defend our living standard. We will use parliamentary and extra-parliamentary struggles to drive the Liberal Democratic-Komei coalition government into a dissolution of the House of Representatives so that we can win a major victory in the upcoming historic political battle.

Stop forcing the public to pay for losses from the failure of the gamble economy

Recent developments show that the economic downturn is worsening amid the U.S.-triggered global financial crisis. What went wrong in the United States? In short, it is a failure of casino capitalism. Financial deregulation was allowed to the extreme, leading to the prevalence of unscrupulous practices like sub-prime loans that ended up in a major fiasco.

The question is what political leaders should do to fulfill their responsibility to solve this problem. I want to stress that it is wrong to shift the cost of the failure onto the general public.

One needed effort is to defend jobs and to deal with possible massive unemployment. Toyota Motor Corporation and other Toyota group companies are firing 7,800 temporary and fixed-term workers. Other auto makers, Nissan, Mazda, and Suzuki, have also announced job cut plans. However, Toyota Motor Corp., which is leading in the job cuts in the auto industry, still expects to earn 600 billion yen in profit this year. It is unacceptable that a company that is profitable and is financially strong enough to continue is allowed to trigger a storm of massive unemployment. I want to call on you to join us in a major national struggle to defend jobs against large corporations’ dismissals and their refusal to renew contracts with fixed term and temporary workers.

The other needed effort is that we must protect small- and medium-sized businesses from the danger of bankruptcy. Smaller businesses are going bankrupt because banks are reluctant to lend them money and are even trying to collect debts forcibly. Remember that the three mega-banks are in the forefront of bullying small companies. The three major banks have reduced the amounts of money available to smaller businesses by 2.76 trillion yen in the past year. The Bank of Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ has invested 900 billion yen in the U.S. investment firm Morgan Stanley. Thus, the major banks are forcibly collecting debts from smaller companies for speculative investments abroad. So let us join together to demand that big banks end their selfishness in business practices that have nothing to do with their role in the banking industry.

Betterment of living standards is the best way to improve the economy

Why does the Japanese economy fall apart when the U.S. economy experiences a downturn?

It is because of the vulnerability of the Japanese economy that comes from its extraordinary dependence on foreign demand and disregard of domestic demand.

We have been insisting on the need to shift from an economy that depends on foreign demand to one led by domestic demand. The government and the ruling parties recently began to say that domestic-led economic development is important. Then, I want to ask who is to blame for distorting the Japanese economy into one that is heavily dependent on foreign demand? What about the LDP-Komei government’s responsibility for helping large exporters without caring for the household economy under their “structural reform” policy?

Let me be more specific. I want to emphasize that the various national struggles for elimination of poverty and resolution of the crisis of lower living standards are the best way to boost the economy.

We demand an end to the use of temporary and other contingent workers as a throwaway workforce by establishing strict employment regulations. We demand the abolition of the health insurance system that discriminates against the elderly aged 75 and over. We demand that social services be improved and expanded instead of cut back. We demand support to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. We demand measures to get regional economies moving again. All these struggles we are waging in order to protect our living standards can pave the way for improving the household economy, boosting domestic demand, and strengthening the national economy at its base. Let us keep this in mind as we work to increase the struggle to defend our living standards in nationwide solidarity.

We fight to block consumption tax increase and end excessively generous tax breaks for large corporations

The economic stimulus package announced by the Aso Cabinet contains nothing that can defend people from the economic downturn; it presents no fundamental measures to expand domestic demand.

The cabinet is attempting to draw public attention to a two trillion yen plan to deliver a one-time handout payment to the public. We must not forget that the LDP-Komei coalition government since the days of the Koizumi Cabinet has already taken in 13 trillion yen by raising taxes and fees for social services. How can we forgive such massive financial burdens in return for a one-time handout payment of two trillion yen?

Prime Minister Aso said, “I ask the people to allow the government to raise the consumption tax in three years.” How can the economy improve with such a government policy of a one-time handout payment and continuation of tax increases?

Stop the consumption tax increase! End the excessively generous tax breaks for large corporations and handouts to the wealthy! We firmly stand for these demands in our struggle. - Akahata, November, 14, 2008