Japan Press Weekly

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2016 December 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

Shii condemns LDP’s steamroller tactics in Diet

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on December 15 in front of the press made a statement on the 192nd extraordinary Diet session which effectively closed on this day.

Shii criticized the Abe government’s acts during the Diet session as being typical of PM Abe’s high-handed style of politics.

Commenting on the forcible passage of bills to ratify the TPP, cut pension benefits, and legalize casinos, Shii said that Prime Minister Abe showed no intent to listen to the public and sincerely respond to opposition parties’ questions, which allowed the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties to repeatedly use their force of numbers to bulldoze through the controversial bills.

Shii stated that the JCP will work hard to encourage voters to deliver a severe verdict to the LDP and Komei parties and the Nippon Ishin no Kai, the coalition of promoting runaway policies, in the next general election.

Asked about the steamroller vote on the casino legalization bill, Shii condemned the LDP, the Komei, and the Ishin party for railroading through the bill to decriminalize casino gambling with little time for discussions in both houses of the Diet.

Noting that the casino bill requires creating legislation to allow casino operations to commence within a year, Shii said that the JCP will do its utmost to block such legislation.

In response to reporters’ questions regarding the next general election, including opposition parties’ collaboration, Shii said that in order to make the general election a first step toward replacing the Abe regime with a new government, the JCP will continue making efforts for the further development of joint struggles united the opposition parties with concerned citizens.

Furthermore, Shii expressed his determination to achieve a success in the ongoing efforts to build a stronger JCP, which is vital for a major JCP advance in the general election.

Past related articles:
> TPP will not come into effect but will still be harmful to Japan: JCP Koike [December 10, 2016]
> LDP and Komei together with Ishin forcibly begin discussing bill to legalize casinos [December 1, 2016]
> Ruling coalition again uses its majority force to steamroller ‘pension cuts bill’ through Diet [November 26, 2016]