Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 31 - August 13 [JCP]

JCP holds rally commemorating 91st anniversary of its founding

The Japanese Communist Party on August 10 held an assembly in Tokyo to commemorate the 91st anniversary of its establishment. JCP Chair Shii Kazuo in his speech called for further developing the party’s advancing wave which was triggered in this summer’s Upper House election.

About 2,000 people attended the gathering, and more than 17,000 watched it live on the Internet at nearly 1,000 locations across the country.

Shii noted that the election results, in which the JCP increased its contested seats from three to eight, has shown clearly the political confrontation between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the JCP. As the former ruling Democratic Party and the so-called “third pole” parties, such as the Japan Restoration Party advocating far-right policies, have lost their positions as alternative parties to replace the LDP, “the JCP has come up as the only party the public can put their trust in,” he said.

The chair also stressed that the JCP has been closing the gap with the LDP in terms of the political power relationship, citing the fact that the JCP obtained more than 10% of the votes in 10 prefectures, as well as in 550 municipalities out of about 1,700 in the proportional representation system.

Shii referred to the advance as a start of the party’s “third advancing wave”, following the first one from the late 1960s to 1970s and the second one in the late 1990s. “This is not a product of nature, but the fruit of the unrelenting efforts for more than a decade by party members and supporters,” he stated.

Shii presented the following three challenges to make the wave even greater: to stand up to the LDP and keep it from steamrolling through its anti-people policies by making effective counterproposals; to enhance daily activities of members and supporters so that the general public can understand the JCP’s position on various issues along with its historical accomplishments and ideological stance; and to work harder to build a bigger and stronger party so that it can play a major role in opening the way to a hopeful future for all.