JCP holds speech assembly to win Upper House election

Japan Press Weekly

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

JCP holds speech assembly to win Upper House election

The Japanese Communist Party on May 14 held a speech assembly in Tokyo to achieve a JCP advance in the House of Councilors election slated for summer. Candidates running for the election were introduced to the audience.

Tamura Tomoko, a candidate in the proportional representation election, stated, “Please, help increase the JCP strength in order to introduce policies that call for equal footing with the U.S. government and for the removal of U.S. military bases from Japan!”

Koike Akira, a candidate in the Tokyo constituency, criticized the Democratic Party government in power for breaking its promises one after another as well as for its indecisive attitude over the relocation of the U.S. Futenama base. He stated, “I am firmly determined to win in the election. Please, support my candidacy!”

JCP Chair Shii Kazuo in his speech pointed out that public disappointment in the DPJ is now changing to anger and asked the audience, “Are we going to allow the present state of politics to remain as it is? Will we still let it work in the interests of the United States and the business world?”

Shii mentioned that only a handful of large corporations are making money at the sacrifice of working people, subcontractors, and small factory owners, and he called on participants to join in the JCP commitment to establish an economy governed by rules.

Large corporations and financial interests always speak of the need to strengthen international competitiveness. However, auto workers in the United States and Germany receive more than double and triple, respectively, the wages Japanese workers in the same industry do. Employers in Germany pay 121 percent and in France 137 percent compared to Japanese employers in their share of contributions to social insurance premiums and taxes, Shii pointed out.

Shii then referred to his recent visit to the United States and reported that the JCP delegation conveyed to the international community the voice of the Japanese people for a world free from nuclear weapons on the occasion of the NPT Review Conference. The delegation also succeeded in directly telling the U.S. government that people of Okinawa and Japan want a Japan without U.S. military bases and an equal Japan-U.S. friendship, Shii reported.

He stated, in meetings with the chairman of the NPT Review Conference and other government leaders, “I feel that the call for a start of international negotiations for the abolition of nuclear weapons has now become the mainstream of international politics. Global grassroots movements are the driving force to further move this trend forward to a world without nuclear weapons.”

In particular, he stated that during talks with the U.S. State Department official he candidly spoke up against the relocation plan of the U.S. Futenma base within Okinawa Prefecture and told him that Okinawans demand the return of the base without condition. Shii reported that the U.S. official in response said that it is beneficial to exchange opinions with the JCP, irrespective of differences in views. Succeeding in opening a route for discussions with the U.S. government is extremely important for the JCP, Shii emphasized.

Shii asked the audience whether or not Japan should maintain the U.S. bases and supposed nuclear deterrence and remain subservient to the United States. He concluded his address by proclaiming, “Let us build a society in which the government can demand the United States to do what we, the JCP, calls for!”

- Akahata, May 15, 2010