Japan Press Weekly

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2023 January 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

JCP confirms with CDPJ that they will fight for thorough deliberations in ordinary Diet session

Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji and his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Azumi Jun, on January 16 held a meeting in the Diet building and confirmed that they will urge the government to hold thorough deliberations in the ordinary Diet session to be convened next week.

The two agreed that it is unacceptable that the Kishida government decided on a drastic shift in the nation’s defense and nuclear energy policies in disregard of the opinion of the general public and the Diet. They also agreed to continue investigating the cozy ties of politicians, especially ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians, with the Moonies as well as to push LDP lawmaker and House of Representatives Speaker Hoshoda Hiroyuki to explain his relations with the Moon cult before the Diet.

In the meeting with Azumi, stating that Japan is now at a historical crossroad between supporting war or peace, Kokuta pointed out that under this situation, the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party and the Democratic Party for the People take a stance in favor of the proposed huge military buildup and the doubling of the defense budget to 2% of GDP while opposing tax hikes for the military expansion. In addition, Kokuta criticized the Ishin Party for giving a boost to Japan’s possession of an enemy-strike capability.

Kokuta stressed that the JCP does not consider the Ishin and the DPP to be “opposition parties” because they call for a huge military buildup, constitutional revision, and the promotion of nuclear energy along with the ruling parties.

Azumi in response said that he respects the JCP’s stance and principles which the party has stood by throughout its history, and added that in order to confront the powerful ruling LDP in the Diet, it is necessary to seek joint efforts among opposition parties on common grounds as much as possible.