Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2010 April 14 - 20 [JCP]

JCP holds inner-party meeting for advance in House of Councilors election

He spoke at a meeting held at the JCP head office in Tokyo, with about 700 local assembly members and candidates as well as the party’s prefectural committee chairs attending. His speech was broadcast live on the Internet and a communication satellite channel.

Concerning the current political situation in Japan, Shii stated, “After eight months of political experiences since the House of Representatives general election, citizens’ pursuit of a new politics has entered a new stage.”

He pointed out that the Democratic Party of Japan-led government has continuously betrayed voters’ expectations and broke its election promises one after another, causing disappointment and anger among the general public. At the same time, he warned against the government’s move to create an authoritarian state under the name of “Diet reform” and its call for further deregulation with the misleading use of the term “local sovereignty.”

Stating that the former ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been on its way to collapse for a long time, Shii stressed that Japan’s political situation has greatly changed since just a year ago, when the major “two-party system” campaign raged throughout the country urging voters to choose either the LDP or DPJ. If the JCP can present itself among a wide range of the public as the only truly alternative political force that is capable of responding to their urgent demands, it will be able to achieve a major advance in the House of Councilors election, he said.

Shii also criticized moves among parliamentarians to create new parties as merely disguised attempts to prolong old LDP standards, such as promotion of structural reform policies, consumption tax increases, and constitutional revision.
- Akahata, April 14, 2010