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2017 November 29 - December 5 TOP3 [JCP]

For JCP advance in future elections: Shii at 3rd CC Plenum

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on the first day of the JCP Central Committee's 2-day plenum (Dec.2, Dec.3) delivered the Executive Committee report with the stated aim to achieve a JCP advance in future elections. Many JCP members and supporters throughout Japan listened to the report on the Internet or the intranet website.

The next major elections will be nationwide local elections in the spring of 2019 and the House of Councilors election in July of the same year.

In order to achieve a JCP victory in these elections, Shii put forward several proposals as follows:

- establish a joint struggle with concerned citizens and opposition parties in all the 32 single-seat constituencies in the Upper House election;
- mutually field or support opposition party candidates and not to withdraw JCP candidates voluntarily as happened in the 2016 Upper House election and the 2017 Lower House election;
- set a goal of receiving 8.5 million votes or more than 15% of the total votes in the proportional representation blocs in the Upper House election;
- work to defend the present three JCP Upper House seats in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka and work to further increase the number of seats; and
- nominate candidates for the 2019 spring nationwide local elections by March of next year at the latest and immediately launch the struggle to help them win.

Regarding party-building efforts, Shii also proposed several activities. The two most important proposals are as follows:

- each member should take a lead in grassroots movements in their communities daily if possible and cultivate ties with citizens; and
- casual get-togethers should be frequently held so that anyone can talk about Japan's future in a relaxed and friendly manner.

Specifically, Shii called for an increase in JCP membership by 11,000, subscribers of daily Akahata by 13,000, and of Akahata Sunday edition by 63,000 by the end of July next year.

Past related article:
> JCP Standing Executive Committee issues statement on general election results [October 24, 2017]