December 27, 2015

Japanese constitutionalism and democracy are currently in a state of crisis. In order to restore these political foundations, it is necessary for opposition parties to put aside their “likes and dislikes” and join hands to force the Abe government out of power. Their hesitation to cooperate will end up benefitting the ruling forces. This is why the people who have opposed the unconstitutional security legislation are calling on major opposition parties to unite.

The proposal for the establishment of “a national coalition government to repeal the war legislation” presented by the Japanese Communist Party has attracted much attention. However, the term “allergy to the communist party” has also come to be often heard. JCP Chair Shii Kazuo said, “[W]e have to continue our efforts to eliminate this anti-communist allergy. At the same time, I want to emphasize that now is the time for opposition parties to overcome this allergy and stand together for the sake of the general public and the future of Japan” (The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, October 15, 2015).

Akahata on December 27 explains the “allergy to the communist party” that should be overcome in a Q-and-A format.

Revolution is something scary, isn’t it?

Many people may have a negative image of revolutions.

In the first place, a revolution is this: Those who have been ruled take away power from the rulers and change the whole organizational structure of the state. In recent years, the democratization movement in Tunisia came to be known as the “Jasmine Revolution”. Some may call various actions protesting against the war bills outside the Diet building in Japan a “people’s revolution”.

The JCP in its Program calls for a democratic revolution, putting “an end to extraordinary subordination to the United States and the tyrannical rule of large corporations and business circles”.

Such arguments as “the communist party is promoting violent revolution” are completely false. Basically, the JCP aims to gain support from a majority of the public in elections to carry out progressive social programs and transformation through parliament in a peaceful and democratic manner. This is the JCP’s fundamental policy and the party refers to it as a “majority revolution”. The JCP must not be confused with any parties advocating violent revolutions.

In fact, it is the Abe government that has violently trampled on the Constitution to force through the war legislation and seeks to impose a foreign military base on Okinawans in complete disregard of their wishes. Constitutional scholar Kobayashi Setsu describes the trampling on and virtual destruction of the Constitution by the Abe government as a very violent revolution.

Q: Will anti-LDP conservatives vote for JCP-backed candidates?

Regarding electoral cooperation among opposition parties, there is a widely held view that anti-LDP conservatives would refrain from voting for candidates backed by the JCP. However, at present, collaboration between the JCP and conservative/nonpartisans is developing across the country.

In the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly election in October 2015, the JCP doubled its number of seats to eight. In Miyagi’s Osaki City which is regarded as a “strong base” of conservatives, a JCP candidate obtained its first JCP seat. During the election campaign, a former city mayor, a former city assembly chair, and other longtime LDP candidate supporters voluntarily worked for the JCP candidate’s victory with the aim of opening the way for realizing a national coalition government to repeal the war legislation.

This fact represents strong public anger against the Abe administration which is pushing forward with anti-people policies such as the war laws, the new U.S. base construction in Okinawa, reactivation of idled-nuclear reactors, and promotion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade by trampling on the Constitution and shutting its ears to the public.

If opposition parties resolutely join hands in national elections under the banner of abolishing the unconstitutional security legislation, this will drastically heighten people’s expectations for opposition parties as a force to counter Prime Minister Abe’s runaway policies.

Q: Does the JCP’s image overlap with that of China and the former Soviet Union?

People feeling fear associated with even the concept of a “communist party” might conjure up in their minds an image associated with China or the former Soviet Union.

However, the JCP is a political party seeking to create a society where people work together in truly free and equal relations. The JCP is taking the firm position of preventing Japan from becoming a repressive society like the former Soviet Union, which is indicated clearly in the 1976 “Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy”.

The JCP has also established the principle of sovereign independence through struggles against the outrageous interference by China and the former Soviet Union in the 1960s.

That is why, in regard to the human rights issue in China, the JCP has frequently told China that it is important to envisage a political system where any critical remarks of the political system will be responded to by means of counter argument and not by banning such criticism. Regarding the Senkaku Islands issue, too, the JCP has clarified the legitimacy of Japan’s possession of the islands based on historical facts and is urging China to refrain from taking forceful, military measures.

PROGRAM OF THE JAPANESE COMMUNIST PARTY
Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy
Past related article:
> Shii answers foreign reporters’ questions about JCP proposal to form ‘national coalition gov’t to repeal war legislation’ [October 17, 2015]