Japan Press Weekly

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2016 May 25 - 31 [POLITICS]

JCP Kira calls on university students to take action for political change

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko on May 25 attended a panel discussion hosted by Showa Women’s University in Tokyo, calling on students to work together for political change.

About 1,800 university students listened to this panel discussion which was held under the theme “The voting age of 18 & the Upper House election”. The Upper House election scheduled for July is the first national election after the statutory voting age was lowered from 20 to 18.

At the entrance of the venue was a big pile of pamphlets which the JCP published for young voters, and many students took them. The three other political parties attending the discussion did not prepare any handouts.

The moderator said to Kira, “This pamphlet is very urbane for the JCP, isn’t it?” Kira replied, “Listening to young people’s voices, we produced this to attract their attention to issues that directly affect them. In response to our request, a number of cafes and stores in shopping districts are putting them on their counters.” She went on to explain the JCP policies to control so-called “black corporations” exploiting young workers, increase the minimum hourly wage to 1,500 yen, and abolish the unconstitutional national security legislation.

A lawmaker from the governing Liberal Democratic Party insisted that the employment rate of university graduates has gone up thanks to the “Abenomics” economic policy. Kira refuted this claim by pointing to the fact that between 2013 and 2015, the number of low-paid contingent workers has dramatically increased while that of full-time regular workers decreased by 360,000. She also argued that the government should implement measures to help increase all workers’ wages if it seriously intends to support “equal pay for equal work”.

The JCP parliamentarian denounced the Abe administration for being reluctant to introduce a grant-type scholarship program, saying, “Such a system should be created as soon as possible.” The other panelists could not give a rebuttal to Kira’s argument.

When the moderator questioned the students if they use the current loan-type “scholarship” program, many of them raised their hands. Asked about whether they want a grant-type one as Kira proposed, they kept their hands raised.

Kira said, “I hope that young people will not only go to polling stations but also become more actively involved in politics. If they have an image of their ideal society and work on politicians and political parties, they will be able to change the very nature of politics.”