September 11, 2020
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a press conference in the Diet building on September 10 said that he hopes to have talks with the new party, which was born after the merger between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), in order to sketch out a vision of a new government consisting of the current opposition parties.
Earlier in the day, the reborn party elected Edano Yukio as its head. Shii said, "With him, our party has worked together over the last five years. I hope cooperation between us will continue to develop, and I'd like to hold discussions with the new party to jointly present to the general public a vision of a new government as an alternative to the existing government ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komei Party."
Edano, in the new party's leadership election campaign, made clear that the new party's platform will seek to build a society shifting away from neoliberalism. Shii said, "It's important that Edano said point-blank the need to depart from neoliberalism. We concur with him on this point."
Shii then pointed out that transforming from today's neoliberal policies would lead to a review of present policies such as the cutbacks in social welfare programs, the high consumption tax rate, and the deregulation of the labor market.
Edano, in the new party's presidential election campaign, spoke for cuts in the consumption tax rate and even for a temporary zero-rate in the tax. His statement received positive responses from other opposition parties. Welcoming this move, Shii said, "The JCP will tenaciously call on the opposition parties to have the common goal of reducing the consumption tax rate."
Past related articles:
> JCP calls on opposition parties to speed up talks on electoral cooperation [September 1, 2020]
> JCP Koike on TV program: Now is time to establish a people-oriented gov't [August 31, 2020]
Earlier in the day, the reborn party elected Edano Yukio as its head. Shii said, "With him, our party has worked together over the last five years. I hope cooperation between us will continue to develop, and I'd like to hold discussions with the new party to jointly present to the general public a vision of a new government as an alternative to the existing government ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komei Party."
Edano, in the new party's leadership election campaign, made clear that the new party's platform will seek to build a society shifting away from neoliberalism. Shii said, "It's important that Edano said point-blank the need to depart from neoliberalism. We concur with him on this point."
Shii then pointed out that transforming from today's neoliberal policies would lead to a review of present policies such as the cutbacks in social welfare programs, the high consumption tax rate, and the deregulation of the labor market.
Edano, in the new party's presidential election campaign, spoke for cuts in the consumption tax rate and even for a temporary zero-rate in the tax. His statement received positive responses from other opposition parties. Welcoming this move, Shii said, "The JCP will tenaciously call on the opposition parties to have the common goal of reducing the consumption tax rate."
Past related articles:
> JCP calls on opposition parties to speed up talks on electoral cooperation [September 1, 2020]
> JCP Koike on TV program: Now is time to establish a people-oriented gov't [August 31, 2020]
