Japan Press Weekly

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2017 October 4 - 10 [JCP]

Create a government through united efforts of concerned citizens and opposition parties: JCP election platform

The Japanese Communist Party on October 4 held a press conference at its head office in Tokyo to announce its election platform for the general election slated for October 22.

At the press conference, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo criticized the Abe government for undermining the Constitution, ignoring public opinion, and abusing government power. Shii said that in the upcoming general election, the JCP will call on voters to deliver a “red card” verdict to the PM Abe-led forces and change the government through a joint struggle of concerned citizens and opposition parties.

Explaining the structure of the JCP election platform, Shii said that the first part of the platform consists of seven political goals agreed upon with the Civil Alliance such as opposition to constitutional revision, revocation of the war laws and other unconstitutional laws, and objection to reactivation of nuclear power plants prior to identifying the underlying cause of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns.

Citing the fact that the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party also endorsed the seven items, Shii said, “To work to achieve these goals is not only the common election promise among the three opposition parties but also the axis of the fight between the ruling/supplementary forces and the opposition parties/citizens alliance. The JCP will strive to work together to attain the seven goals.”

Shii then moved on to the second part of the platform and said that in this part, the JCP presented its own election policies for which it will call for voters’ support in the coming election.

Among these policies, Shii in particular took up the JCP demand for the cancellation of the planned consumption tax increase to 10% in 2019. Shii criticized PM Abe for using social welfare and education as an excuse to increase the consumption tax rate. Shii stressed that without relying on consumption tax revenues, the government can secure enough financial resources for welfare and education programs by ending the current preferential tax measures for large corporations and the wealth and by revising the usage of tax money. Shii added that in the election, the JCP will appeal for the need to change the government’s economic policy to one seeking to eliminate poverty and social inequalities and support people’s livelihoods.

The JCP’s own election policies also focus on nine issues, including the “Moritomo” and “Kake” scandals, the North Korea crisis, the new base construction in Okinawa, and Japan’s participation in the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Past related article:
> Civil Alliance confirms common election agenda in preparation for selecting united opposition candidates [September 22, 2017]