Japan Press Weekly

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2016 June 8 - 14 [JCP]

JCP announces election platform focusing on abolition of unconstitutional war laws

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a press conference held on June 9 at the JCP head office announced its platform for next month’s House of Councilors election. He expressed his determination to replace the anti-people Abe government with a new government.

Shii said that the JCP will strive to achieve two goals. One is to drive the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties and their supplementary forces into a minority position in the Diet through the collaboration among opposition parties and citizens united; and the other is to increase the number of JCP seats in the Upper House. Shii also said that the JCP will work hard to achieve the victories of the opposition parties’ joint candidates in all 32 single-seat constituencies.

Shii then explained the JCP platform. The top item on the election pledge list is to put a stop to the Abe government which is trying to turn Japan into a war-fighting country in disregard of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. Specifically, the JCP pledges to work to abolish the war laws, restore constitutionalism, and foil Abe’s attempt to revise the Constitution.

In the field of economic democracy, the JCP in the election platform proposes to make changes in the tax system and state budgeting system as well as to tighten labor rules. The JCP argued that the government should cancel its plan to increase the consumption tax rate to 10% and instead impose a fair share of tax burdens on large corporations and the wealthy. Regarding budgeting priorities, the party calls on the government to spend more on social welfare and education and less on a military buildup and large-scale public works projects. In addition, the JCP pledges to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.

In other fields, the JCP platform stresses the need to create a Japan without nuclear power plants through all-out promotion of renewable energy sources, cancel the plan to construct a new U.S. base in Okinawa’s Henoko district, promote women empowerment, and improve disaster prevention measures.

Shii said, “The cooperation among opposition parties and citizens has the potential to bring down the Abe government and pave the way for political change. We will point this out to as many voters as possible.”