Political distortion remains under new PM: Shii

Japan Press Weekly

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

Political distortion remains under new PM: Shii

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo stated on June 4 that the two major political issues will not be erased just because the government head has changed, in response to the appointment of Prime Minister Kan Naoto. The following are excerpts of Shii’s speech at a meeting of the JCP House of Representatives members:

Mr. Kan Naoto of the Democratic Party of Japan was voted in as prime minister today. I’d like to focus on the remarks he made during the process of his election which should not be overlooked.

At a press conference yesterday, he stated, “The (former) prime minister removed the two heavy burdens on the party by resigning,” referring to the issues of the U.S. Futenma base in Okinawa and DPJ members’ plutocratic scandals.

He suggested that former Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio’s act of stepping down has brought those two issues to settlement. However, I must say this is just a blatant attempt at whitewashing.

Concerning the issue of the Futenma base relocation, the May 28 Japan-U.S. agreement, designating Okinawa’s Henoko district as a new base site and transforming the U.S. Marines’ training exercises to Kagoshima’s Tokunoshima Island and several parts in mainland Japan, will be taken over by the cabinet led by the new prime minister. The first “burden” he mentioned will not be “removed” but is about to be loaded on the shoulders of Okinawans.

The plutocratic scandal issue cannot be swept away by Mr. Hatoyama’s resignation either. The continuation of investigations is needed into the former prime minister’s and Mr. Ozawa’s scandals. If the DPJ wants to claim it is a clean party, it should at the very least have Mr. Ozawa give sworn testimony and reveal the facts publicly.

The change of the government head does not change our basic stance in our campaign for the upcoming House of Councilors election. The Hatoyama Cabinet’s inability to represent citizens’ demands to the U.S. and to business circles is the fundamental cause of his resignation, and his policies will most likely be carried over to the Kan Cabinet. Therefore, let us achieve an advance in the upcoming election by calling on voters to support the JCP, a party capable of addressing and rectifying this political distortion and representing the interests of the general public to the U.S. government and the business world.

- Akahata, June 5, 2010