JCP election platform calls for a new Japan where the people are the protagonists

Japan Press Weekly

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

JCP election platform calls for a new Japan where the people are the protagonists

The Japanese Communist Party on July 28 published a comprehensive platform for the August 30 House of Representatives general election.

It calls on voters to exercise their right as the sovereign to give the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties a verdict ordering them to relinquish power. Stressing that replacing LDP-Komei policies with a new political direction for Japan is what the coming general election is about, it also calls for massive support for the JCP.

The JCP sets forth the following two main political tasks for after the unseating of the LDP and Komei from power:

(1) Build an economy governed by rules for defending livelihoods and the basic right to live by ending the policies exclusively defending the interests of the financial circles and large corporations.

(2) Implement an independent diplomacy for peace with Article 9 of the Constitution as the guide and put an end to the policy of maintaining the Japan-U.S. military alliance as an absolute necessity.

Details of the two tasks are as follows:

1. Build an economy governed by rules in defense of the livelihoods and rights of the people

Japan needs to break away from policies in the service of the financial circles and large corporations in order to develop a path toward establishing rules to defend people's livelihoods and basic rights in all fields, including employment, social services, small- and medium-sized businesses, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and taxation.

We will work to fundamentally overhaul the Worker Dispatch Law and make the right to full-time employment as a matter of course.

It is necessary to establish rules for equal treatment to part-time and temporary workers so that they can receive equal pay for equal work as well as paid holidays.

We will work to establish a law to properly regulate forced overtime work in order to eliminate "karoshi" (death from overwork).

New rules for decent work need to be established, including improvements in payments of unemployment benefits.

Establishing rules for social services is essential for every Japanese citizen, regardless of income, to be able to receive necessary benefits equally. We will strive to improve the social services in order to truly guarantee the constitutional right to live (Article 25).

It is possible to secure revenues to make social services available to everyone without having to raise the consumption tax rate.

First, it is necessary to eliminate all unnecessary and wasteful spending, including substantial cuts in the military expenditure which takes out 5 trillion yen a year, especially the so-called "sympathy budget" for the stationing of U.S. forces in Japan. The plan to use 3 trillion yen in tax money for the "realignment of U.S. forces in Japan," including costs for constructing military facilities in Guam, must be canceled immediately.

Secondly, it is necessary to review the excessively generous tax breaks for large corporations and the wealthy and implement a progressive tax system.

It is possible to create an additional 12 trillion in revenue by implementing these reforms in spending and creation of revenues.

In moving away from policies serving the interests of the financial circles and large corporations, it is indispensable to prohibit political donations by corporations.

It is necessary to eliminate the present structure of imposing pro-business policies on the whole of the Japanese economy, including the economic policy advisory council to the prime minister, which is made up of the chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and other business leaders, pro-government academics, and government bureaucracy.

The Japanese government is prone to accepting U.S. economic demands on Japan. For example, the privatization of the Japanese postal services was in conformity with the demands of the U.S. insurance industry as well as the Japanese business sector, including major banks and insurers. It is indispensable for Japan to break away from the present system in which the United States sends the "Annual U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform Report" to Japan as if treating our country a U.S. dependency.

2. Use the Constitution as guide to implement independent diplomacy contributing to peace of Asia and the world

Japan constitutionally declares its rejection of wars and advocates the peaceful resolution of international disputes. We will defend and make use of Article 9 of the Constitution in order to promote progressive changes so that Japan can contribute to peace in Asia and the world.

We will make every effort to increase the call for the start of international negotiations aimed abolishing nuclear weapons.

We will do our utmost to have Japan adhere to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles (not to possess, manufacture or allow the entry of nuclear weapons into Japan) and become nuclear free in the true sense of the word.

We will work to break away from the present Japanese foreign policy that puts emphasis on military responses and on the alliance with the United States as an essential aspect and will establish diplomacy to encourage progressive changes based on the constitutional principle of peace enshrined in Article 9.

We advocate the abrogation of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty (military alliance) and the establishment of an equal relationship with the United States.

A major JCP advance in the coming general election will pave the way for a major step toward establishing a Democratic Coalition Government, a democratic government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

? Akahata, July 29, 2009