Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 December 17 - 23 TOP3 [JCP]

JCP is number-one party in backing citizens’ demands

Akahata on December 14 found that Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers gave support to 73.15% of all petitions brought by citizens to be discussed in the previous session of the Diet, the highest percentage among all the political parties.

Various citizens’ groups submitted petitions signed by about four million people in total to either the House of Representatives or the House of Councilors during the 187th extraordinary Diet session which was closed late November.

JCP lawmakers endorsed about 66% of these petitions to be presented to the Lower House and about 80% to the Upper House. In contrast, Liberal Democratic Party legislators who occupy the overwhelming majority of Diet seats mediated only 5% of petitions to be introduced to the Diet.

This striking difference brings into relief which political parties respect the opinions of the people and undertakes parliamentary work in the interests of the people.

The petitions the JCP presented included those calling for: the cancellation of the planned increase in the consumption tax rate; measures to tackle the falling price of rice; improvements in social welfare programs; the equal treatment of temporary workers; strict compliance with labor legislation; the revocation of the Cabinet decision allowing Japan to use the right to collective self-defense; the protection of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution; a zero-nuclear energy society; a policy shift to renewable sources of energy from nuclear power generation; opposition to Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement; a base-free Okinawa; and the removal of U.S. Osprey aircraft from Japan.

Citizens have the constitutional right to submit petitions to the Diet, ministries and agencies, and local assemblies. At the Diet, they submit petitions through Dietmembers to the speaker of either chamber. If corresponding House committees adopt the petition, the Cabinet must take measures to deal with the issues raised.