Japan Press Weekly

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2007 August 1 - 21 TOP3 [JCP]

JCP Chair Shii speaks at JCP 85th founding anniversary rally

The following is the gist of Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Shii Kazuo’s speech on August 9 at the assembly marking the Japanese Communist Party 85th anniversary. The theme of the speech was “On the results of the House of Councilors election, the emerging political situation, and the role of the JCP.”

The main point to note regarding the July 29 House of Councilors election is that the general public judged that Japan will have no future if it continues to be ruled by the old political framework under the control of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties.”

The JCP played an important role in helping voters pass a severe judgment on the Abe cabinet’s “structural reform” policy and its plan to adversely revise the Constitution.

Regarding Japan’s political perspectives following the election and the role the JCP has to play, a new political process has begun in Japan in which the public is exploring an alternative to the LDP-Komei government.”

There are three points that are essential in pushing ahead with this new political process.

The first is an effort to overcome the aberrant current that tries to justify Japan’s past war of aggression.

The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling on the Japanese government to officially apologize for the use of ‘comfort women’ during WWII. The Japanese government must officially give a clear apology to former “comfort women” for Japan’s wartime conduct against them.

The second point is the need for Japan to break away from its subservience to the United States. The extension of the Anti-terrorism Special Measures Law to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to the Indian Ocean can be blocked in the new Diet if the Democratic Party maintains its opposition to the law’s extension. The JCP chair called for common action by opposition parties to this end.

The third point is the struggle to defend living conditions by ending policies that give priority to protecting the interests of major corporations.

The LDP’s vote-getting strength in national elections fell from 58 percent in 1960 to 28 percent in the recent election. Let us make further efforts in cooperation with the general public in the quest for an alternative to LDP-Komei policies. - Akahata, August 10, 2007