September 18, 2003
Following is the translation of the Resolution of the Japanese Communist Party 23rd Congress (draft) approved on September 18 by the JCP Central Committee's 8th Plenum:
The Japanese Communist Party 23rd Congress will discuss and adopt the historic revised JCP Program. In an effort to make the best use of the adopted draft JCP Program in the immediate domestic and international struggle, the Resolution sets forth the main issues concerning the analysis of the present-day international and domestic situations and the JCP's initiatives as well as the tasks of the struggles.
(1) In analyzing the world situation three years ago, the JCP 22nd Congress Resolution presented a view on the issue of two conflicting international orders as follows: "Two conflicting international orders are clashing over what the world in the 21st century should be. One is an order of war and oppression which accords with the U.S. policy of tyrannical domination, and the other an order of peace under the U.N. Charter. Humankind is faced with a choice between these two orders."
The world has been in a state of turbulence during the last three years with events shaking the whole world including the 9/11 terrorist attack, the retaliatory war against Afghanistan, and the war of aggression against Iraq. These events have shown clearly that the issue of "two conflicting international orders" is one of the fundamental issues relating to the course of humankind in the 21st century and that the JCP 22nd Congress Resolution had foresight in grasping the core of the world situation. Everyone now knows which one of the two international orders has a future.
(2) The new military strategy which the United States under the Bush administration has formulated and carried out is composed of several elements that are extremely dangerous in that they fundamentally destroy the international principles established in the U.N. Charter for peace. The elements are as follows:
The crux of ideas that runs through these elements is that the United States must maintain a "military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges", and that the United States has the resolve "to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests" (Rebuilding America's Defenses, a report published in September 2000 by the Project for the New American Century, one of the think-tanks with a strong influence on the Bush administration) . Clearly, the United States is now trying to force the world to accept "a world order in which war and oppression are predominant". This represents the blatant ambition of the United States to dominate the world by imposing its hegemony.
However, this strategy to establish hegemony throughout the world is failing. The war of aggression against Iraq was the first real application of this strategy. Although the United States and Britain with their overwhelming military power destroyed the Saddam Hussein regime, the judgment of history has already been passed on their lawless acts of violence. The United States and Britain invaded Iraq alleging that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were the threat, but they haven't discovered any such weapons in Iraq, thus deepening the suspicion that the allegations about Iraq's WMD were a total fabrication. The illegal occupation by the U.S. and British forces continues to provoke popular resistance and violence, and the state of affairs in Iraq is more difficult and complicated than ever. The stark reality in Afghanistan and Iraq is evidence that war only incubates terrorism and violence instead of serving as the answer.
However unrivaled the U.S. military strength is, it cannot create an international order based on military strength alone. A country may be able to be victorious in war, but one country alone cannot build peace. The U.S. attempt to establish its hegemony has no future.
(3) The first three years of the 21st century have seen a significant growth of movements opposing the dangerous and lawless adverse current and calling for an international order for peace based on the U.N. Charter, increasingly influencing international politics.
These developments represent the great historic progress humanity achieved at the turn of the century.
When the world founded the United Nations and established the U.N. Charter following the tragic experiences of two world wars, the establishment of an international order of peace, including the illegalization of war was set forth as its aim. However, this was not immediately translated into a realistic power for world peace.
During the U.S. war of aggression against Vietnam in the 1960s and the 1970s, the United Nations was powerless. Initially, the Vietnam war was opposed only by a few governments in the world. The Vietnamese people's undaunted struggle and the popular struggle that developed throughout the world against the war of aggression, which was getting bogged down in a quagmire, drove the U.S. forces into a historic defeat. Nonetheless, the process that led to the U.S. defeat shows what the historical conditions and restrictions peculiar to the 20th century were like.
It is also a fact that in the 20th century, progress was registered toward establishing an international order for peace thanks to the international struggle against the war of aggression against Vietnam and the hard fact of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam, along with the worldwide collapse of the colonial system. The non-aligned movement increased its political strength. The idea that all countries, large and small alike, are equal under the U.N. Charter came to be openly embraced in international politics, and the ban on the use of force and the defense of the right of nations to self-determination became a trend that grew steadily. In the 1980s, the U.S. invasions of Grenada, Libya, and Panama encountered U.N. resolutions condemning the aggressor country by name for violating the U.N. Charter.
The 21st century world builds on struggles carried out over the years by people in defense of peace and the right of nations to self-determination. The popular struggle in each country provides the power to establish U.N. Charter-based rules for world peace. The enormous upsurge of the peace movement that opposed the Iraq war continues to grow, even after the claimed end of the U.S. lawless war, as a movement calling for an international order of peace in opposition to U.S. hegemony. If this people power is further developed, the 21st century will be a hopeful century in which any attempt at a lawless war by the superpower will be thwarted.
(4) In the 21st century, the current for peace has made "international cooperation among governments, organizations, and individuals" a reality.
The struggle against the Iraq war confirmed that the possibility is increasing globally that a large movement can be built for cooperation by the world's popular struggles and a majority of the world's governments in the common cause of establishing a U.N. Charter-based international order of peace.
It is also important to note that the World Conference against A & H Bombs, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, is developing with government representatives taking part along with representatives of peace organizations and individuals from around the world.
During the last three years of upheaval, in which the major issue was the world's course in the 21st century concerning "war or peace", the Japanese Communist Party has taken part in grassroots peace actions throughout the country, and carried out opposition party diplomacy by reaching out to many foreign governments. It is noteworthy that peace-loving young people have developed many movements in Japan. Without doubt, these activities waged in solidarity with the huge global movement for peace will produce the power to achieve a peaceful future.
The JCP will continue to do all it can in and outside of the country to establish an international peace in accordance with the U.N. Charter and in opposition to U.S. hegemony.
(5) The draft JCP Program defines the state of Japan as "extraordinary state subordination to the United States", and regards ending this subservience as a major task facing Japan in the 21st century. The Japan-U.S. Security Treaty setup stands out in the present-day world because of Japan's extraordinary subservience to the United States.
The JCP 22nd Congress Resolution pointed out that the 1999 War Laws provide the legal basis for the "Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation" and that the "New Strategic Concept" of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "have together brought the danger of the two U.S.-led military alliances onto a new stage." It criticized the War Laws and the "New Strategic Concept" for (i) throwing away the stated cause of "common defense against attacks" to transform themselves into interventionist military alliances that mobilize its allies and (ii) openly declaring that they would launch military attacks against other countries even without U.N. resolutions.
However, subsequent developments show a stark contrast between NATO and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. In the wake of the Iraq war, European countries are increasingly moving towards distancing themselves from the U.S. policy of hegemony and trying to work out a European security strategy calling for a peaceful international order to be established in line with the U.N. Charter. The European Union (EU), which comprises many NATO member countries, will adopt its first security strategy document entitled, "A Secure Europe in a Better World". The document states, "The fundamental framework for international relations is the U.N. Charter. Strengthening the United Nations, equipping it to fulfill its responsibilities and to act effectively, must be a European priority", clearly revealing that its approach is different from NATO's "New Strategic Concept". This reflects a new development in the international situation after the Iraq war.
By contrast, Prime Minister Koizumi and President Bush in the Japan-U.S. summit meeting in May 2003 reaffirmed that the Japan-U.S. security setup represents close relations between the two countries "not just in the context of a bilateral relationship, but also in the global context." Strengthened literally as "a global alliance", the Japan-U.S. security setup unconditionally supports any lawless war waged by the Unites States in any region of the world and accelerates the moves toward building a mechanism for Japan to cooperate and participate in U.S. wars. An Asian news agency expressed concerns and criticism saying that the Self-Defense Forces will go anywhere in response to U.S. requests. The Japan-U.S. security setup, as an aggressive military alliance in which Japan is forced to be subordinate to the United States, is extraordinary in the present-day world.
(6) After the Iraq War, public criticism has been increasing regarding the actual state of the Japan-U.S. military alliance. Many people are groping and exploring an alternative course Japan should take, questioning the state of Japan that cannot show any diplomatic independence from the United States. Those forces who believe that the present setup is everlasting, with the military alliance binding Japan, maintaining huge military bases, and mobilizing the nation for U.S. lawless wars, are not qualified to talk about national independence and the country's future.
The Japan-U.S. security setup is the source of all evils arising from Japan's subordination to the United States in the military, diplomatic, and economic affairs. Supporting the U.S. preemptive attack strategy, it promotes a revival of militarism in Japan, which is the source of dangerous military tension in Asia and the rest of the world. The JCP will work even harder to expose the harmful effects of the Japan-U.S. security setup and take active part in discussions to show the public that an independent, non-aligned, neutral Japan free from the military alliance can pave the way toward a peaceful and friendly future for Asia and the world. To this end, it will make every effort to win a majority of the Japanese people over to our call for the abrogation of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. This is an essential task we must fulfill in building a majority force with the goal of establishing a democratic coalition government.
(7) Opposing the strengthening of the structure of the Japan-U.S. military alliance for aggressive purposes, the JCP will develop struggles for the following tasks:
Oppose moves to build a nation that dispatches military forces abroad -- The enactment of the Anti-terrorism Special Measures Law, the Contingency Wartime Legislation, and the Law to dispatch the SDF to Iraq, shows that the moves to build a SDF-dispatching nation have entered a new stage. Preparations for permanent legislation are under way to enable Japan at anytime to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad. These are attempts to enable Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense by joining with the U.S. forces in using military force abroad in violation of the Constitution. The 2003 "Defense of Japan" white paper stated, "International missions are now one of the major areas of SDF activities." This shows that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are throwing away their traditional "exclusively defensive defense" policy in terms of its role, function, and equipment to become armed forces that perform their roles mainly abroad. At this juncture, the task now is to continue to strengthen the struggle to prevent the unconstitutional SDF dispatch law from being invoked or expanded.
Struggle to break away from being a nation structured on U.S. military bases -- Under the new global strategy of the Bush administration, U.S. bases in Japan, which served as stepping stones for attacking Afghanistan and Iraq, are being further strengthened as key bases for projecting forces to fight wars throughout the world. The JCP opposes plans to reorganize the U.S. expeditionary forces that include: a new state-of-the-art base to be constructed in Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture, a nuclear aircraft carrier to be deployed to the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture, an amphibious assault ship to be deployed to U.S. Sasebo Naval Base in Nagasaki Prefecture, and the U.S. plan to reinforce strike forces. As crimes are frequently committed by U.S. military personnel creating danger for local residents, the national demand is that the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement be revised to end extraterritorial rights for U.S. forces in Japan. Japan's expenditure for supporting the stationing of the U.S. forces is 1.6 times the total amount paid by the other 24 U.S. allies combined for similar purposes. The JCP demands an immediate abolition of the so-called "sympathy budget" for funding the stationing of the U.S. forces in Japan. The "sympathy budget" has been increased to 1.3 times the funding for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Block Japan's participation in missile defense strategy -- The U.S. Bush administration's missile defense project is aimed at neutralizing enemy missiles and securing U.S. nuclear supremacy. It is a dangerous plan to establish U.S. dominion of space in that it would enable the United States to preemptively attack other countries without having to worry about retaliation. The Japanese government has promised to participate in the development and deployment of the missile defense system. Participation in the project is not only costly but amounts to exercising of the right of collective self-defense in violation of the Constitution and will also incorporate Japan into the U.S. global nuclear strategy. China and Russia have expressed strong concerns about and criticism of the missile defense project, indicating that Japan's participation in the project could increase tension between Japan and Asia-Pacific countries. The JCP opposes the U.S. missile defense plan and strongly demands that the government cancel its participation in it.
The struggle to end Japan's extraordinary subordination to the U.S. has international significance in that it will contribute to establishing an international order of peace in line with the U.N. Charter. We will join hands with many peace-loving people in the effort to make Japan a stronghold for world peace instead of one for U.S. lawless wars.
(8) The JCP 22nd Congress Resolution took notice of "two decisive moves for peace" in East Asia, one in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the other on the Korean Peninsula.
In the last three years, the ASEAN has increased cooperation with many countries in Eurasia, including China, India, Russia, and European Union (EU) countries, in defending the international peace based on the U.N. Charter. It now plays an increasingly influential and important role as a powerful international source in the movement for peace and social progress.
Building on the development of the ASEAN, an effort is under way towards establishing a community covering the whole of East Asia, including Japan, China, and Korea, the biggest aim being to establish regional peace based on mutual respect for each other's identities and diversity, and help develop regional economic and cultural cooperation. It is important that the concept is designed to create an East Asian community based on the principle that it would (i) maintain friendship with the United States but without allowing its domination; (ii) not allow any country to establish hegemony; and (iii) call for Asian affairs to be dealt with by Asians.
Japan in the 21st century must join in this effort as an Asian country for peace and friendship and play an active role in developing economic relations that will enable every country to prosper together based on equality and reciprocity.
(9) With North Korea's nuclear weapons program becoming a major issue since October 2002, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated and dangerous.
The resolution of the North Korea question is an essential task for peace and stability in East Asia.
This question is a powderkeg that could trigger a war in the region. If North Korea goes on developing nuclear weapons and continues with "brinkmanship" playing the "nuclear card", it will only give the United States a pretext for making a lawless preemptive attack. No one can deny that military confrontation may escalate into war and affect neighboring countries.
Should a war break out on the Korean Peninsula, it will cause hundreds of thousands of casualties. This is what the United States, a party concerned, has estimated. War must be prevented by all means from breaking out.
The international community must give top priority to making a concerted effort to eliminate all causes of war and avoid military clashes as its top priority task. The question of North Korea must be resolved by diplomatic and peaceful means, and it is important to thwart all moves leading to war.
In late August 2003, an important step forward was made at the six-party talks. Although major differences remained unsolved, the United States, North Korea, China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia shared the common view that they will do their utmost to peacefully resolve the Korean nuclear issue through dialogue and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in order to pave the way for a lasting peace on the peninsula. The JCP strongly hopes that this diplomatic process will continue and make progress toward the solution of the problem.
(10) Knowing that prospects of diplomatic negotiations are unpredictable, the JCP believes it important for the international community to work towards solving problems by standing firmly for the following principles:
(i) In solving the issue of nuclear weapons, it is important to develop diplomacy to convince North Korea with reason that its nuclear armament policy is most dangerous and that nothing is more important than abandoning its nuclear development and establishing stable diplomatic relations with the international community for the sake of its own national security.
The JCP has criticized the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for providing a regime that allows a few nuclear weapons-possessing countries to maintain their monopoly over nuclear weapons. We have done so in line with the demand that nuclear weapons be swiftly abolished throughout the world, and our criticism does not mean allowing more countries to have such weapons. On the contrary, whatever the reason, it is unacceptable for a country that declared that it would not have nuclear weapons as a party to the NPT to unilaterally announce its withdrawal from the treaty and embark on the road of nuclear weapons development. In addition, given the agreement North Korea has concluded with South Korea, the United States, and Japan to the effect that it will not seek to have nuclear weapons, its unilateral revocation is unacceptable.
The logic behind North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons development is that its national security can be secured only by maintaining "a tremendous military deterrent force". However, North Korea is isolating itself from the international community because of its pursuit of nuclear arms buildup based on the "deterrence" policy, thus exposing itself to great danger. If North Korea abandons this policy and accepts fair international inspections, it will prevent any country from inventing a pretext for attacking it.
(ii) North Korea's stable diplomatic relations with the international community can only be established when North Korea atones for its many lawless activities.
Although North Korea is a United Nations member and has diplomatic relations with many countries, these relations are far from being stable. The biggest obstacle to North Korea's stable external relations is its failure to atone for lawless acts it has done throughout the world, including the terror bomb explosion in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), the shooting at a Japanese fishing boat, the KAL (Korean Air Lines) explosion, the trafficking in illicit drugs, and the abduction of Japanese nationals.
A successful solution to the abduction issue will be important not only for the abductees and their families, but for the settlement of all the lawless activities North Korea carried out throughout the world. The point is that North Korea has admitted some of the facts of kidnapping Japanese nationals and offered a formal apology, however imperfect. The need now is for North Korea to go farther than this first step toward settling all its lawless acts. This approach will make it possible to seek a solution to the abduction issue not just as a bilateral Japan-North Korea issue but as an international task to be tackled by the international community.
The international community should remind North Korea with reason that it can establish stable diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries and the rest of the world and join the international community in the true sense of the words only when it atones for its international lawless acts and that that is the main assurance of peace and security.
(iii) It is important for all the parties concerned to seek to stop the vicious circle of military responses.
The U.S. Bush administration is militarily intimidating North Korea as part of its so-called "axis of evil" stating it may be a target of its preemptive attack strategy. No country has the right to make preemptive attacks on any country whatsoever. North Korea, by playing its nuclear card, only increases the threat to peace. This cycle of military confrontation gives rise to a more dangerous situation.
Both the United States and North Korea should restrain themselves from taking any action that would heighten the cycle of military confrontation. All the countries concerned, including Japan, are called upon to work to prevent the United States and North Korea from pursuing military confrontational approaches instead of promoting them.
In this respect, it is important to note that the announcement made after the six-party talks pointed out that "all the parties should refrain from stating or acting in a manner that gives rise to turmoil in the course of peace talks," and that "all the parties concerned called for the Korean Peninsula to be made nuclear-free and recognized the need to explore a solution by taking into account North Korea's security and other concerns." It is necessary for all the parties concerned, including North Korea, to stand for and comply with the principles of national sovereignty and non-violation of each other's territory.
(11) Firmly standing for sovereign independence, the JCP has played the leading role in severely criticizing Korea's activities that have nothing in common with socialism, including its attempt in the late 1960s to invade the South; the imposition of the personality cult of Kim Il Sung in the 1970s; and a number of international lawless acts in the 1980s.
As North Korea has become an issue crucial to peace and stability in East Asia in the last several years, the JCP has been active in making specific proposals for solving problems with reason, including opening a negotiating channel between the government of Japan and North Korea and seeking to comprehensively solve the issues of nuclear weapons, the abduction of Japanese nationals, and Japan's colonization of Korea.
A reasonable solution to the North Korea problem could pave the way for peace, prosperity, and friendship in East Asia. For the Japanese people, it could mean making progress toward a peaceful environment, in which forces for the revival of militarism would lose their cause. At home and internationally, the JCP will continue to strive for reason to prevail in the effort to solve the issue of North Korea.
(12) The JCP's opposition party diplomacy has made remarkable progress for these several years since the JCP 21st Congress in 1997 adopted a policy that places emphasis on relations with other Asian countries. The normalization of JCP relations with the Communist Party of China and their summit meeting in 1998 laid the groundwork for the implementation of this policy. In developing the opposition party diplomacy, the 4th Central Committee Plenum in June, 1999, adopted landmark guidelines. The guidelines enable the JCP to be active in developing relations with other political parties, ruling or opposition, beyond the past framework of relations between communist parties, and with any foreign governments, based on mutual interest in opening political exchanges in the cause of world peace and social progress.
JCP activities under these guidelines began with a tour of Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong), followed by a tour of Middle Eastern countries (Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates), South Asian countries (India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan), and Tunisia in Northern Africa. These visits greatly increased the JCP's relations with foreign governments and governing parties. JCP representatives participated in the Second International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Thailand, the Non-aligned Summit in Malaysia, and the First East Asian Conference (also in Malaysia), either as delegates or as guests.
At the time when war on Iraq was imminent, JCP representatives visited China, the Middle East, and South Asia, and confirmed its agreement with those governments on the need to make efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis. The JCP also conveyed to embassies in Japan its views on the Iraq question at each turning point. The JCP's opposition party diplomacy has thus paved the way for its increased effort to directly influence international politics. Through these firsthand interchanges, the JCP has been able to more comprehensively understand the present-day world.
Furthermore, these activities have provided us with an opportunity to take a fresh look at problems in Japan's politics and foreign policy. Every country the JCP visited is engaging in building its country on its own, despite the difficulties and contradictions they face, to achieve their independent goals for the 21st century. By contrast, Japan, bound by diplomacy subservient to the United States, remains without goals or prospects in its own self-reliance.
(13) The opposition party diplomacy of the JCP is accepted in every corner of the world because the JCP works in the 21st century standing for a "universal axiom" being shared by a majority of the world's countries. In its opposition party diplomacy, the following theories and political views the JCP established have been very effective:
(14) Through its opposition party diplomacy, the JCP has found that the "anti-communist walls" have been brought down everywhere. For example, the JCP has expanded exchanges with many Islamic countries in which communist parties are banned or do not exist. JCP delegations have visited these countries and succeeded in establishing close relations with them.
How is it possible for the JCP to build reliable and interactive relations with these and many other countries? There may be various factors. Discussions the JCP has had with many countries convince us that the JCP's history, in particular its consistent opposition to the war of aggression by Japanese militarism and defense of sovereign independence against great-power chauvinism by any country, is the source of trust in the JCP. We are very proud that the JCP's political line and history are becoming more effective in the present-day world.
In our discussions with different people around the world, many show their surprise when they know that the JCP has a membership of more than 400,000 working in 25,000 branches, an Akahata readership of nearly 2 million, 40 seats in the Houses of Representatives and Councilors and about 4,200 JCP members in local assemblies throughout Japan, and that the JCP is closely connected with the public in its grassroots activities. Indeed, the JCP's diplomacy is supported by this grassroots strength of the JCP.
The JCP's diplomatic activities will increase in the future. In this area, the JCP will further develop party activities to achieve greater results.
(15) With the failing economic policies by LDP politics reaching an impasse, the Japanese people’s living conditions are in a state of crisis which is deeper than any in the past. Look at the 30 months of the Koizumi Cabinet. It has used the "structural reform" policy as a pretext for forcing the people to pay more and encouraged corporations to do more to restructure themselves. During this period, many small- and medium-sized companies have been forced to go bust, and the living conditions of all walks of life have been further devastated. A Cabinet Office survey on people’s lives shows that an all time high of 67 percent of the respondents said they are distressed or anxious about their daily lives.
The question now is how the JCP should act to put an end to these problems. The 3rd Plenum of the JCP Central Committee (22nd Congress) in October 2001 stressed the importance of the JCP’s activist role in organizing struggles as well as the need to propose policies in the arena of national politics. The plenum decision stated: "The government and large corporations are not hesitant in carrying out anything without regard for the costs the people may have to pay. This is exactly what we must do away with for the sake of future Japanese society; it is also one of the major issues facing our society in the 21st century." With this, the 3rd CC Plenum called for a major struggle to effect a fundamental change in Japanese society incorporating a long perspective.
Following this decision, the JCP began to increase its efforts to strengthen its cooperation with popular movements in various fields.
This is only a small first step. At the same time, however, it indicates that the Japanese people have accumulated enormous energy to rise in a broad-based struggle. It also shows that if we use this energy to develop the struggle, we will be able to produce results that will help defend living conditions against the government’s policies of destroying people’s livelihoods.
(16) Increasingly varied demands are being expressed for riding out the crisis of life by workers, working citizens, farmers, fishers, small- and medium-sized business operators, intellectuals, cultural professionals, women, youth, students, and elderly people. Demands related to livelihood have features common to all regions, urban or rural. It is necessary to develop a great struggle in many ways.
To help develop the immediate struggle against LDP government policies which destroy people’s living conditions, the JCP calls for national efforts on the following three points:
Struggle to stop lawless corporate restructuring to win the creation of stable jobs – The employment situation is more critical than ever due to large corporations vying for cost-cutting restructuring encouraged by the government. In addition to the rise in the unemployment rate to a postwar high, personal income is falling. Large corporations are competing with each other for replacing full-time jobs with unstable contingent jobs, including part-time, temporary, and contract jobs. Workers are forced to work extraordinarily long hours, and this is a cause of karoshi (death from overwork), and the illegal practice of forcing workers to work overtime without pay is prevalent. Young people’s difficulties in finding jobs is a particularly serious social problem. It calls for a struggle to be developed to oppose lawless corporate restructuring, eliminate forced overtime work without pay, put an end to long work hours, and enable workers to use their paid holidays fully, increase stable jobs, and establish just rules for employment and labor practices. We demand that the government increase financial assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses which employ 70 percent of the nation’s wage workers.
Struggle to stop adverse revisions of social services and demand major budget allocations – The budget cuts which have been carried out almost every year for social services attack the people in the form of increases in burdens and decrease in benefits. The social security system is intended to secure people’s livelihoods, but it is now a major source of uncertainty that people have about their present and future situation. We will fight to block the major adverse revision of the pension system planned for the next fiscal year (starting April 1st 2004), stop the endless increase in medical costs, and demand that people’s burdens be reduced and that problems of the nursing care insurance system be solved. The JCP will concentrate on efforts to develop the struggle to stop further adverse changes in social services and instead give budgetary priorities to social services. The JCP in this struggle will show the public how stable resources for social services can be ensured through a reform of appropriations.
The national struggle to block a major consumption tax rate increase plan – The government is acting in unison with business circles in beginning to call for the consumption tax rate to be increased to more than 10 percent. The Japan Business Federation proposes increasing it to 16 percent, and the Japanese Association of Corporate Executives says the rate should be 19 percent by FY 2020. The government Tax Commission in its mid-term report advised the consumption tax rate to be increased to more than 10 percent from the present five percent. Some cabinet members have spoken in favor of legislative measures to be taken in FY 2006 to pave the way for the consumption tax rate increase. This is how reckless moves are beginning toward a major increase in the consumption tax rate. A 10-percent consumption tax rate will mean taking an additional 25-trillion yen from the public. If the rate is 16 percent, an additional 40 trillion yen will be taken away. The danger is that if the people don’t voice their objection, the tax rate increase will be accepted as a fait accompli.
The consumption tax is the worst form of taxation with its regressive character burdening low-income people most. A further tax rate increase will increase the regressive character and further widen the gap between rich and poor. It will also ruin working people’s lives and Japanese society alike.
The consumption tax has a particularly destructive effect on small- and medium-sized businesses who are obliged to pay the tax on their own because it is difficult for them to include the consumption tax in sales prices. Its increase will force traders, who are already hit hard by the prolonged economic recession, to go bust or face more hardships.
Another point to make is that the consumption tax is an obstacle to economic recovery. This is evident in what happened following the additional 9 trillion yen burden imposed on the people in 1997, which included a consumption tax increase. At the time, the Japanese economy, which had just begun to return to a recovery track, though feebly, again touched bottom. How absurd it is to propose a tax increase plan at a time when the people and the economy are worn down by the prolonged economic recession.
The advocates of the consumption tax increase say the measure is necessary to secure funds for social services. This is an untenable argument. Tax revenue since the consumption tax was introduced has reached 136 trillion yen. During the same period, revenue from three corporate taxes fell by 131 trillion yen. This shows the consequence of repeated corporate tax cuts in tandem with the introduction of the consumption tax and other tax increases. This means that the consumption tax has been swallowed by funds for corporate tax cuts for large corporations. In fact, the business circles are calling for a big increase in the consumption tax rate in combination with further corporate tax cuts. Clearly, the consumption tax rate increase is not aimed at securing funds for social services; it is intended to further reduce large corporations' tax burdens.
The JCP has been demanding that the notorious consumption tax be abolished. At a time when the substantial increase in the consumption tax rate, which will destroy people's living conditions and the nation's economy, is about to be railroaded through, our immediate task is increase common actions by a wide-range of people on the single issue agreed upon: opposition to a consumption tax rate increase. The JCP calls on all people to participate in this movement.
(17) Japan's food and agriculture are in a state of crisis with the food self-sufficiency rate continuing to decline. Many family farmers are facing the danger of having to abandon farming. Destruction of the nation's agriculture is threatening the integrity of the nation's land and endangering the environment and local economies. More and more people are concerned about food safety being threatened by residual pesticides contained in imported products and the outbreaks of BSE. The urgent task is for the government to place importance on agriculture as the nation's key industry, reconstruct it, and raise self-sufficiency in food according to concrete plans.
At the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference held in Cancun, Mexico, in September, NGOs and many developing countries expressed opposition to the call of large exporters, including the Unites States, for further expansion of agricultural trade that benefits multinational companies most. This is how contradictions are sharpening on this issue. At a time when a world food shortage is a matter of deep concern, one important task of international solidarity is to work to review the across-the-board trade liberalization that targets all agricultural products, exclude the staples in maintaining self-sufficiency in food like rice in Japan from trade liberalization, and establish the principle of "food sovereignty" for every country.
Taking total dependence on foreign farm products for granted, the Koizumi Cabinet has disclaimed state responsibilities for maintaining stable food prices and supply-demand relations. In the "Outline of Reform of Rice Policy," it imposes the already failed policy of only regarding large-scale farmers (more than ten hectares in Hokkaido and more than four in the rest of Japan) and corporate businesses as farmers, forcing an overwhelming majority of family farmers to give up farming. If nothing is done to check this, Japan's agriculture will collapse.
Now is the time to fundamentally change the present food, agriculture, forestry, and fishery policy to one of curbing expansion of food imports. It is also necessary to further develop the struggle to establish an agricultural policy that will fundamentally secure agricultural prices and farmers' incomes, support family farmers, and protect food safety. We will do our best to develop it as a national movement for the survival of all Japanese people whether they live in rural areas or in cities.
(18) Japan is referred to as a country under "capitalism without rules". This state of affairs is a product of LDP politics and Japanese monopoly capitalism's reactionary domination. At the same time, we need to recognize that it is connected with the fact that social struggles are often too weak to repel unjust attacks on workers and the people in general.
In western European countries, conservative governments over the 1980s and the 1990s preached propaganda about deregulation being a panacea in order to destroy the work rules established thanks to workers' struggles. This adverse current was opposed by workers waging powerful struggles in France, Germany, and Britain, including general strikes by several million workers.
This struggle not only achieved wage increases and improvements in working conditions in individual companies but protected and even improved work rules, including regulation of dismissals. The EU has established the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Laws have been enacted to require firms to fulfill their responsibilities in many areas, including employment and the environment. Measures have been taken to encourage companies to voluntarily abide by the rules through disclosure of information. Thus, in Europe, the rules for defending people's lives and work conditions have been established through struggles to socially repel lawless attacks. It should be noted that these rules to some degree serve to stabilize and strengthen European economies.
The Japanese people have similar experiences in achieving historic rules to defend their living conditions. In the 1960s and 1970s, the people's struggle led to the establishment of important rules that are effective today. In the 1970s, massive arbitrary worker dismissals taking advantage of the oil crisis were strongly opposed by workers throughout Japan. In the late 1970s, judicial precedents called the "Four Requirements for Dismissals for Downsizing" were established as basic rights of workers based on court rulings. The citizens anti-pollution movement, which had been developing since the late 1960s, made significant progress through four major pollution lawsuits, resulting in the convening of a special Diet session in 1970 devoted to the issue of pollution. As a result, the Environmental Pollution Control Basic Law, which had failed to bind corporations, was revised. This marked an important step in strengthening rules for environmental protection. Workers also carried out a long struggle against workplace discrimination against workers based on ideology, and all the lawsuits filed against such discrimination involving Tokyo Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric Power Co., and Kansai Electric Power Co. were victorious for workers, contributing to the establishment of rules to prohibit such discrimination. The struggle against wage discrimination against women also made important progress.
However, following the 1980 "Socialist Party-Komei Party Agreement" and in the midst of the second major reactionary offensive since the end of World War II, the Japanese labor movement conspicuously began to take a rightward course. Labor-capital collaborationism prevailed to suppress workers' demands and rights. We need to look at the hard fact that the power of labor to develop social struggles to defend the lives and rights of working people has since been weakened dramatically.
We are striving to realize the immediate keen demands of the people and achieve a united front for establishing a democratic coalition government. This requires us to increase efforts to overcome this weakness and establish a society capable of striking back at lawless attacks. We must develop a huge struggle to "establish rules in defense of living conditions".
(19) In this effort, it is very important for the JCP to play the pioneering role in organizing the struggle. The major task is for the JCP to make the cause of the struggle known to the public, achieve gains however small, make efforts to strengthen the mass movements and their organizations, and build cooperation among people of a broad political spectrum. JCP branches at places of work, communities, and schools as well as among the youth need to play their respective roles as reliable partners in the people's struggle.
Particularly, the JCP has an important duty to help make clear the great cause of the struggle and exert its energies to the development of JCP policies and theories. For example, the struggle against lawless corporate restructuring is not only important for the defense of workers' lives and rights. The corporate competition for larger profits through restructuring is holding down personal incomes, causing a "fallacy of composition", which is a cause of the prolonged economic slowdown in Japan. Corporations are trying to cut costs by offering more unstable jobs, but ironically, this strategy is contributing to a fall in corporate productivity. The ongoing destruction of the employment system is weakening the very foundation of the social security system and gutting medical services and the pension system. Under these circumstances, the struggle in opposition to lawless corporate restructuring is an important national task that accords with the great cause of achieving a sustainable economic and social development in Japan.
At a time when people are increasingly threatened and the attacks are directed at depriving the public of the energy to fight back, the JCP has an important role to play in explaining the national significance of each struggle to the public. In fulfilling this task, the newspaper Akahata's existence and role is very important in relation to the present state of Japanese mass media.
(20) The JCP will make every effort to develop a democratic people's movement aiming for forming a majority in every sector. Above all, the trade union movement is called upon to overcome labor-capital collaboration.
With large corporations aggressively seeking both "corporate restructuring and wage cuts", the so-called theory of the pie, the traditional theory of postwar labor-capital collabortionism, has failed. The theory was that workers' better livelihoods depend on their cooperation in the effort to enhance corporate productivity. The emerging situation calls for the trade union movement to reexamine itself in the light of its original cause. Under this strategy, large corporations are trying to force the unions to abandon their fundamental task to "defend livelihoods and rights, and improve working conditions." They also plan to transform the unions into organizations that would merely help corporations gain larger profits and increase productivity. This scheme, tantamount to driving unions into committing suicide, is intensifying contradictions with a large number of workers. Against these trends, efforts are beginning to be made to restore the trade union movement's essential role. Objective conditions exist for restoring a strong union movement.
Under these circumstances, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), as the national center representing the working-class interests, is expected to play an active role in achieving people's as well as workers' demands. It is very important, through union struggles, to expand labor unions among unorganized workers and workers with unstable jobs and to seek cooperation in struggles based on agreements beyond differences of national affiliation.
JCP branches in the workplace have a role to play as strongholds of the struggle to defend workers' benefits and organize struggles, irrespective of unions' stances in corporations and unions' establishment, organized or unorganized. Their positions, which have resisted corporate offensives for more than 20 years, are great treasures. The JCP will use all its energy through its activities to maintain firm ties with workers, strengthen their positions, and implement a systematic handing over of progressive movements to future generations.
The JCP will try to make progress in the united front movement by linking it to people's struggles in every sector. The united front movement is basically aimed at expanding cooperation with a wide range of non-party people. The JCP will do its utmost to develop the National Forum for Unity for Peace and Progressive Change from local communities and places of work.
(21) The attempt to adversely revise the Constitution, focusing on Article 9, is entering a critical stage. Now that the traditional government interpretational amendment of the Constitution is no longer tenable, the real danger is a textual revision to the Constitution. We must raise an alarm against the following dangerous moves.
- A set of laws has been railroaded through to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad. The overseas dispatch of the SDF has thus been expanded. The government has so far explained the SDF's activities abroad by sophistry, saying, "Support activities that don't involve the use of arms are permissible." Such sophistry is increasingly incompatible with the plan to send SDF units to Iraq, a country in a state of war.
- Under the Koizumi Cabinet, adverse revision of the Constitution has become the order of the day. The prime minister has instructed the LDP to draft its plan for a "revised" Constitution by November 2005, the 50th founding anniversary of the LDP, and openly stressed the need to enact a bill to hold a national referendum on constitutional "revision" before November 2005. In no time in the past since WWII has a prime minister instructed to draft a revised Constitution within a set time frame.
- In the Diet, the Research Commission on the Constitution was established in each house in January 2000, giving an impetus to the moves toward submitting their final reports to the next ordinary session of the Diet starting in January 2004. More than 300 Dietmembers of both Houses from the LDP, DPJ, LP, Komei, and the Reform Club participate in the Parliamentarian League Promoting Research of the Constitution, drafting bills to "revise" the Diet Law and establish a national referendum law as a step to proposing a constitutional revision. The Liberal Democratic, Komei, Democratic, and Liberal parities are in favor of the constitutional revision. The constitutional revision is being called for not only by ruling parties but also by some opposition parties.
(22) The call for constitutional revision by no means represents the demands of the people. In October 2000, a report on Japan was made mainly by Richard Armitage, the present U.S. deputy secretary of state. Pointing out that "Japan's prohibition against collective self-defense is a constraint on alliance cooperation," the report called on Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense. The report, along with the LDP and business circles seeking a revival of militarism, has served as a driving force for the enactment of bills to send the SDF abroad and further encouraged calls for constitutional revision.
Article 9 of the Constitution is the biggest obstacle to Japan's global participation in lawless U.S. wars for hegemony. Those who are promoting the constitutional change show zeal for the removal of Article 9 in order to pave the way for SDF dispatch without restrictions. This move goes against the international call for a peaceful world order based on the U.N. Charter.
The defense of Article 9 is important not only for securing lasting peace for Japan. It is a struggle that has great international significance because it is inseparably connected with the effort to build a world that opposes U.S. hegemony. In the opposition party diplomacy the JCP has carried out, we have felt that the peoples in the Middle East and Asia want to see Japan as the "country with Article 9" fulfill its pioneering role in defending world peace.
The JCP calls for a great common struggle to be waged by broader sections of people in opposition to the adverse revision of the Constitution and any attempts that conflict with the constitutional principle of peace. In this struggle, the JCP will prove its real worth as a party that has been consistent in defending the Constitution.
(23) The crisis facing Japanese society is not limited to politics and economics. Moral crisis is also a serious problem, affecting children. Many people feel anxious and distressed about shocking juvenile crimes frequently taking place as well as bullying, child abuse, and teenage prostitution.
The JCP has repeatedly called for a wider discussion and movement to help fight against the public tendency of looking down upon others, and to establish civic morals. "To respect civic morals and social ethics, and discharge their responsibilities toward society" has been recognized as the most important duty of JCP members since the JCP Constitution was revised at the JCP 22nd Congress.
The JCP renews its call for efforts to find a way out of the present difficulty, placing the task of overcoming the crisis of social morals, in particular securing children's healthy growth, as one of the most important efforts to help to build a democratic Japanese society in the 21st century. Specifically, the JCP calls for exploring solutions through nationwide discussions and struggles.
(24) What underlies the present-day moral crisis is a pile of distortions, contradictions, and difficulties the LDP government has caused to people's living conditions, work, and education. The task now is to do everything possible to solve these problems through democratic approaches.
For example, large corporations are in a fierce competition for larger profits through restructuring schemes. This has destroyed job security and forced workers into excessively long work hours with excessive workloads, which in turn has destroyed happy family life and even family communications. Extreme emphasis on the virtue of competition is forcing workers to obey the law of the jungle, placing workers as either winners or losers. This tendency has made people forget about caring for others and created a savage atmosphere affecting people's spiritual well being. The deep job crisis among young people deprives them of the right to participate in society and shatters their hopes for their future work, marriage, and child rearing prospects.
In its comments to the Japanese government in June 1998, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that in Japan "children are exposed to developmental disorder due to the stress of a highly competitive educational system." Extraordinarily competitive education bound by control-oriented schools, which have been imposed for many years by the LDP government, are seriously damaging the minds and growth of children. The government and the LDP are wrongly insisting that the Fundamental Law of Education is to blame for the present educational contradictions and difficulties, and that this law should be revised; this is a groundless allegation. The fact of the matter is that the government and the LDP have for many years trampled down the basic ideas and principles of democratic education established in the Fundamental Law of Education, which cites building character as the fundamental objective of education and precludes state power's "unjust control". This is precisely the source of the present-day contradictions and difficulties facing education.
A string of political and economic corruption and scandals have immeasurably harmful effects on children. The elimination of moral corruption is essential for establishing sound civic morals.
A politician's recent remarks in favor of aggression against other countries and terrorist attacks were scandalous. This warns of the danger of a chauvinistic trend emerging in contempt of other nations in Asia.
The task now is to struggle to end various distortions and contradictions under LDP politics that have harmful effects on civic morals. The JCP will fight to make Japanese society a democratic society with rules together with the effort to restore sound morals to Japanese society, starting at the top.
(25) The JCP believes that these efforts must be coupled with tasks to be carried out by society as its own tasks and proposes the following four initiatives:
- Establish standards of civic morals appropriate to a democratic society -- It is particularly important today to establish, through popular discussion and consensus, the standards of civic morals for the builders of a democratic society.
In prewar Japan, state power used morality, in particular the "Imperial Rescript of Education", as standards forcing the people to show their allegiance to the despotism of the emperor. These forced moral standards had nothing in common with civic morals in the true sense of the words. Using these "moral" codes, the brutal war of aggression was carried out against other nations in violation of humanity.
The Japanese Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education were established based on remorse for the historical mistake of war. They were to provide a foundation on which postwar democratic civic morals would be formed. Their foundation is made up of universal values based on social progress, including the principle of people's sovereignty; respect for human rights and personality; rearing people as builders of a peaceful state and society; the quest for truth and justice; respect for labor and responsibility; and equality and equal rights between men and women. On these bases, various voluntary efforts have been made to establish the standards of civic morals worthy of a democratic society.
In the 1970s and the 1980s, the JCP called for children to be taught with civic morals in addition to academic, physical, and emotional education. In the JCP 21st Congress in 1997, the JCP proposed 10 points to be included in civic morals.
Public consensus is yet to be formed over standards to be established for civic morals. Any such standards should neither be imposed on people by government orders nor established based on a decision of a single political party. The JCP believes that the need now is for the public to form a consensus through discussion of standards for socially-recognized civic morals.
- Establish social self-discipline to protect children -- The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that "the children should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance." It is serious in the light of international practices that Japan has this kind of weaknesses concerning self-discipline that all societies should have.
Child prostitution and other types of buying and selling of sex are undermining children's rights. The Japanese government, by the standards set in the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, has an internationally ignominious status in this respect. The concluding observations on Japan of the Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that it is "concerned at the lack of a comprehensive plan of action to prevent and combat child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children."
Many people are concerned about children being exposed to violence scenes and explicit expressions of sex through mass media and video games. Social self-discipline in this field is lagging behind internationally. In an international perspective, Japanese society is aberrant in that the child is a big market for corporations to make profits by stimulating children to buy as many goods as possible.
Children are technically barred from the soccer lottery, but the fact is that they are involved in gambling over soccer game results. It is impermissible that the government and the Education, Science and Technology Ministry are indirectly taking bets from children.
The urgent task is for Japanese society to make up for its backwardness in this regard and to establish social self-discipline to guarantee the sound development of children.
- Guarantee the child the right to express opinions and participate in society -- In order to build a hopeful and positive world for children, it is necessary to guarantee children the right to express their opinions and participate in society in schools, local communities, and in various fields of society.
Juvenile crimes and other problems have various causes. However, many experts and people concerned point out that an underlying cause of these problems is that children's self-affirmative feelings and self-esteem are deeply hindered. If children lack self-esteem, the logical consequence is that they also lack in the feelings of respecting others as fellow humans.
It is deplorable that Japan ranks very low in an international comparison in terms of percentage of children who regard themselves as worthy and who feel self-contentment in their own identity.
It is very important to create the climate at home, in local communities, and at schools in which children will receive the solid sense that they are held in esteem for their human values and feel assured that their existence is affirmatively accepted.
To that end, efforts will be needed to set up a system that guarantees children the right to freely express their opinions, receive respect for their opinions, and allows them to participate in society. Only when children can see themselves as indispensable members of society can they grow into an adult who holds himself or herself and others in esteem and abides by socially just norms.
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates as follows: "States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child." A major international movement concerning children is one of ensuring their social participation, such as allowing them to take some part in school administration. In Japan, a new movement has arisen to call for schools, local communities, and other forums to allow children to express their opinions and participate. It is essential to support this positive force.
- Grassroots efforts to help children's sound development -- The JCP will promote and support grassroots movements through joint efforts by parents, local communities, and schools to help children's growth, listen to their concerns, and give them support. Children will acquire civic morals through actual human and social relations instead of just empty words.
A variety of efforts to develop rich human relations among children are under way in many parts of Japan. These attempts include the book club movement, circles for theater-and-movie goers, sports and rhythmic calisthenics, tours in nature and society, and the setting up of independent children's organizations. Many self-support organizations of parents suffering from problems over child-rearing, such as bullying, delinquency, school non-attendance, and social withdrawal, have come into being. It is essential for the JCP to support these grassroots movements and to seek ways to solve the problems together.
Civic morals are not something that can prevail by strengthened government control, regulation and orders from above. Far from solving the issues, such government control will only exert harmful effects. A cabinet minister's remark that the parents of a criminal boy deserves punishment and retaliation is a recent example of government irresponsibility.
Ways to solve this issue will develop by supporting citizens' voluntary efforts. The JCP calls for a national discussion and movement to overcome the crisis in social morals in order to create a society that guarantees children a future to realize sound personal development.
(26) Availing itself of the draft of the revised JCP Program and the draft Resolution of the JCP 23rd Congress, the JCP will use the upcoming House of Representatives general elections and the House of Councilors election scheduled for July next year to raise the issue of Japan’s course for the 21st century. At issue in this confrontation over Japan’s future course is whether we will allow the old framework of LDP politics to continue or achieve the JCP’s proposal for democratic change in Japan.
"How can we tolerate Japan’s subservience to the United States?" "How can we approve of such politics that do nothing but make our livelihoods more uncertain?" "How can we allow the Constitution to be adversely revised?" This is how many Japanese people feel about the contradictions of LDP politics. In the election campaign, we will raise these issues and put forward our proposal for a sweeping transformation of politics. The revision of the JCP Program was intended to complete the theory of democratic revolution. The revised JCP Program and this draft Resolution present real issues for the elections.
The JCP theory on a future society of socialism/communism, which has mostly been rewritten, will be an important basis for our efforts to let people know about the JCP’s outlook regarding an ideal society. We will make the best use of this developed theory in the election campaigns.
(27) In the upcoming political battles, we must achieve a new JCP advance because it will have great bearings not only on the defense of people’s living conditions and peace but on Japan’s general course for the 21st century.
First, the JCP is a party with a solid direction and concrete policy for changing away from LDP politics. Achieving a JCP advance is the only way to pave the way for meeting the people’s pressing demands for political change. The Japanese people from past experience know what would happen if a change in political power means a mere change of hands without change of policy. The Hosokawa government, which was in charge from 1993 to 1994, touted itself as "non-LDP", but what it actually did was carry out one unpopular policy after another, which even the LDP could not attempt to do. For example, it put forward a plan to increase the consumption tax rate, opened the Japanese market for foreign rice, and introduced the single-seat electoral constituency system and the government subsidy for political parties. After all this, the Hosokawa government collapsed because it found itself in the midst of a plutocratic scandal. This was a necessary consequence of a government that had declared that it would "take over the basic policy of LDP government." Experience shows clearly that slogans like "anti-LDP" or "non-LDP" cannot meet the people’s expectations if alternative policies are not presented.
The JCP is a political party firmly committed to fundamentally changing the old framework of LDP politics that is subservient to the United States and serving the interests of large corporations. Only by increasing the JCP representation in the Diet, can we meet the needs of the people for sweeping change in politics.
Secondly, the JCP's advance in national politics will contribute to supporting and developing popular struggles in every sector and reducing real hardships facing the people.
In recent years, the JCP has worked hard to eliminate forced overtime work without pay, and proposed to the government more than 200 times in the Diet to create a "law to eradicate unpaid overtime work." As a result, the struggle in cooperation with workers and their families forced the government to issue a directive aimed at eliminating the illegal practice, forcing the corporations to pay more than 15 billion yen in back pay for overtime.
The JCP has pushed forward the struggle to safeguard credit banks or credit unions and small- and medium-sized businesses affected by the government's policy of "early disposal of bad loans." This struggle has led to having the Financial Services Agency make a "finance inspection manual for small- and-medium sized enterprises," and create a system to guarantee financing for debt-renewal.
The JCP has carried out parliamentary struggles in cooperation with residents movements and local governments to make the nursing-care insurance system affordable. During the parliamentary discussions on the nursing-care insurance bill, the JCP insisted that small-income earners must not be excluded based on the premiums and fees for services and that systems be established to provide quality services. After the bill was enacted, the JCP on five occasions made proposals to the government for improving the system. The number of municipalities which have decided to reduce or exempt the amount of the premiums is 695, and 908 local governments have reduced service user fees. No party other than the JCP has taken up the issue of the care system for the benefit of low-income earners. Without doubt, the JCP proposals and discussions in the Diet on this issue have helped a great deal to improve the system.
On the war contingency legislation and the bill to send the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, the JCP led parliamentary debates to defend the Constitution and the U.N. Charter. Although the laws were forcibly enacted, the JCP discussion greatly helped develop the popular struggles. The JCP's advance in the coming general election is essential for preventing the laws from being invoked.
These are some of the JCP's achievements that have influenced national politics. Why is the JCP able to play such a role? It is because the JCP has a political line that can fundamentally change LDP politics, which is subservient to the United States and in the interests of large corporations. Only by making the party for progressive change stronger, can we defend people's livelihoods and peace.
Thirdly, a JCP advance will pave the way for the establishment of a solid opposition front capable of changing LDP politics.
The present state of opposition parties has two aspects. One is that all opposition parties are supposedly "anti-LDP" which is essential for being regarded as opposition parties, and this serves as the common ground between the JCP and the other opposition parties. The JCP attaches importance to this point and is in favor of developing joint struggles in the Diet on issues agreed upon. The other point is that opposition parties other than the JCP do not have a strategy to break away from the political framework of the LDP-led government. The Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party are moving toward a merger without showing a strategy for change.
In particular, no opposition parties but the JCP are willing to abandon the political framework of the LDP by taking a stand on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, the so-called "structural reform" policy, and adverse revision of the Constitution. This is a major weakness opposition parties have. A JCP advance in the election will help to overcome this weakness and open a path toward building a common front of opposition parties to meet the needs of the people.
The JCP works to establish a democratic coalition government based on a united front instead of a one-party government. An increase in JCP strength in national politics will pave the way for building an alliance between parties committed to running a democratic government in the future.
The JCP's advance will accelerate the possibility of establishing a democratic coalition government and changing national politics.
(28) In putting up campaigns for the coming House of Representatives general election and the 2004 House of Councilors election, it is important for us to grasp the context in which the JCP has achieved advances, suffered setbacks, and made counterattacks in the last several years, and set appropriate goals.
In the national elections in the second half of the 1990s, we achieved the biggest ever JCP advance. The JCP received 7.26 million votes in the 1996 House of Representatives general election and 8.2 million in the 1998 House of Councilors election. Alarmed by these JCP advances, the reactionary alliance by the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties in early 2000 began concentrating their attacks on the JCP using deception and lies. That year, the JCP suffered a setback in the House of Representatives general election, with reductions in both the numbers of its seats and votes obtained. In the 2001 House of Councilors election, these anti-JCP attacks, joined by a rise in Prime Minister Koizumi's popularity that was described as a "Koizumi whirlwind", forced the JCP into an additional decline reducing the number of votes cast for the JCP to 4.33 million.
We are now working to regain lost ground and achieve a new JCP advance. In the simultaneous local elections in April, we seized an opportunity of taking the first steps in that direction, but the task is for us to turn the tide for a real offensive in the coming national elections. From this viewpoint, we need to establish our preparedness and goals for the next national elections as follows:
First, we should have in mind that we will start by taking a hard look at the balance of forces between political parties. Specifically, we need to keep in mind that our strength at the start of the present campaign is represented by the 4.33 million votes which we received in the 2001 House of Councilors election. The outcome of these national elections will be evaluated by strides we make from the present position.
Second, we will set ambitious goals for the national elections and do all what we can to achieve them. In the House of Representatives general election, we will make efforts to defend the number of seats the JCP has maintained and seek extra seats in proportional representation blocs. We will also carry out a struggle to win in single-seat constituencies. In the House of Councilors election, we will carry out campaigns to defend our present position and make further advances in both proportional representation and prefectural constituencies. We should try not only to increase the number of JCP seats but achieve the vote-getting goals in both elections.
(29) It is not easy for the JCP to be victorious in both the House of Representatives general election and the House of Councilors election. We must keep in mind that we will be able to secure the JCP seats we won in the previous election only when we accomplish the task of regaining our lost ground and winning extra seats.
We have now a great opportunity and favorable conditions that will enable us to achieve progress. It is important to put great energy in the effort to let the public know how important it is to achieve a JCP advance. We should recognize the reality of the present balance of power between political parties, but we must not regard it as fixed. What we need is to recognize that objective conditions are ripe for a dramatic change and boldly make efforts to make it happen.
As the failure of LDP politics is clear both domestically and externally, its organizational basis is crumbling more rapidly than ever. Everywhere, in cities and in rural areas, an increasing number of voters are politically uncommitted. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that they account for about 50 to 60 percent of all eligible voters.
An analysis of recent opinion polls shows that those politically unaffiliated voters say they are critical of present LDP politics. Many of them feel insecure about their lives and express strong dissatisfaction with the government's economic policy that fails to find a solution. They are also very critical of the Iraq war launched by the United States and Britain and the government's support for the war and its plan to dispatch the SDF to Iraq as requested by the United States.
The JCP must begin with sharing the common concerns and needs with politically uncommitted voters and reach out to them in the common quest for Japan's course in the 21st century. If we do this, we create the possibility and conditions for increasing such cooperation. While steadily increasing our influence among former JCP supporters, we should also reach out to politically uncommitted voters or supporters of other parties. Support from these people is decisive in determining the outcome of the elections.
It is essential to defeat anti-communist attacks as we try proactively to shape the course of political change. Present anti-communist attacks are being carried out by the forces of reaction with anti-communism as an integral part of their strategy. Their main aim is to prolong the LDP's dominion. Even if the LDP is forced out of power temporarily, all they need to do is suppress the JCP in order to ride over the tough times by playing a farce like the one they showed in the past in the name of "political realignment" as a means of maintaining the repressive power structure. The JCP needs to work to break free of such anti-communist attacks.
The revised JCP Program (draft) says, "A democratic coalition government can be established through struggles backed by a majority of the people to defeat obstructions and resistance from the present ruling forces that represent the regime led by monopoly capitalism and Japan's subordination to the United States." The JCP defines the struggle to defeat the anti-communist attacks as one of the tasks the JCP Program establishes to pave the way toward a democratic coalition government. The JCP will further strengthen this effort.
(30) The JCP's campaign strategy for the general election is stated in detail in the decision of the JCP Central Committee 6th Plenum. We will pay special attention to the following points:
- Put emphasis on the proportional representation election -- In the campaigns for both the House of Representatives general election and the House of Councilors election, the JCP throughout the country must keep in mind that priority must be given to efforts to win a substantial increase in the JCP's voting strength as well as the number of JCP seats. The focus of the election campaign must be on activities to inform the public of the JCP's political line and distinct policies, the achievements it has made, its history and perspective for the future, and thus win larger support for the JCP.
The single-seat constituency is a system in which all parties compete for people's support for national policies and is a basic unit for campaigning to win voters' support for the party in the proportional representation election. Their central effort should be directed to increasing the number of votes cast in the constituency for the JCP and contribute to a major increase in the JCP votes in proportional representation election. Such efforts, combined with the activity to win the single seat of the constituency, need to be made systematically whenever circumstances allow and possibilities exist.
- Emphasis on activities to achieve people's demands -- The JCP election campaign basically focuses on the promotion of its general activities based on four principles. The number one point is that the JCP should carry out day-to-day activities with the public to defend people's interests and increase the influence of the JCP. This is the basis for all JCP efforts to win the people's support. Our experience in the simultaneous local elections was that anti-communist attacks could not obtain results easily wherever the JCP was carrying out activities based on residents' needs. Our important task is to wage the struggle to meet the needs of the Japanese people concerning major national political issues, including the defense of peace and living standards and daily needs in workplaces, local communities, and on campuses. We must try to strengthen our ties with the public through the struggle to achieve these demands and take advantage of such connections with the public to bring about a JCP victory in the election.
The JCP's prospective candidates have an important role to play in the activity to meet the needs of the public. Together with our candidates for proportional representation elections, the 300 candidates for single-seat constituencies should use their wisdom and strength to strengthen their ties with voters and win their confidence through efforts to realize the common needs in each single-seat constituency, the basic unit for the national election campaign.
- We reach out to all voters -- The simultaneous local elections have taught us important lessons for election campaigns. They are about how to effectively promote grassroots activities, including dialogues with voters to increase support for the JCP, the use of posters, handbills, hand-held microphones, and JCP supporters' associations, and the JCP recruitment drive.
One need is to complete grassroots activities, including dialogues to increase support within the set time frame in the early stages of the election campaign. The proposal to complete this task at the early stage of the campaign means that JCP members should not postpone earnest efforts until after the election campaign officially starts, with everyone seeming to save their energy for the last three days. This proposal has encouraged JCP members to show new vigor. The dissolution of the House of Representatives for a general election is not yet definite. However, a general election in November is highly likely. In the 40 days that follow this Central Committee Plenum, the JCP should advance the grassroots activities necessary for a JCP advance, and move further toward a victory by carrying out the various tasks necessary for a major JCP advance.
The other is to increase face-to-face talks with voters based on common feelings as the backbone to organizational activity, using every possible means to approach voters. The activity to repeatedly reach out to voters and call for their support for the JCP by the use of JCP supporters' association newspapers has the influence to renew the previous style of activity. The number of members of JCP supporters' associations has reached a record 2.5 million. It is essential to methodically encourage these members into activity and to further increase members. It is also essential for every JCP branch to have a supporter association to work with. A weakness shown in the simultaneous local elections in placing too much emphasis on the need for face-to-face talks caused a lag in making phone calls asking all eligible voters to support the JCP. In preparing for the general election, it is necessary to unify these two aspects.
In pursuing this activity, efforts should be made to carry out the systematic organizational activity proposed by the JCP Central Committee 6th Plenum: the use of residential maps and voters names.
- Activity in preparation for the House of Councilors election -- The House of Councilors election is scheduled for July 2004. Fifteen JCP seats are up for election, the largest ever number in this election. In the next 10 months we must methodically carry out preparations as we work for a JCP victory in the House of Representatives general election.
In the proportional representation election under the non-binding list system, the JCP and its proportional representation constituency candidates should work to get more than the record 8.2 million votes in order to successfully defend the present 8 seats and even win extra seats. For this reason, winning voters' confidence in the JCP should be at the center of the activity. The 11 House of Representatives proportional representation blocs need to be divided into districts so that voters in the districts can be asked to write the name of a JCP candidate on the ballot. Our campaign in single-seat constituencies should focus on securing the re-election of the seven incumbent House of Councilors members. It is necessary to work out positive and aggressive plans for their reelection, and the candidates and JCP bodies should together carry out systematic campaign strategies.
(31) The draft of the revised JCP Program states, "Establishing progressive and democratic self-governments throughout the country will provide the main vehicle that carries the demands of residents of regions and districts as well as provide important power propelling the democratic and progressive currents ." This makes clear how important it is for the JCP to increase its influence on local politics and work to achieve a democratic change.
In local politics, the predominant tendency is that all political parties except for the JCP are ruling parties, and that many local governments neglect their most essential task, securing residents' living conditions and well-being. The central government's policy of so-called "Trinity-reform" that would reduce central government expenditure for local needs and force municipality mergers are accelerating this trend.
The aim of the "Trinity reform" is to slash state funding for local governments, mainly concerning welfare- and education-related services. In rural areas, this goes along with forced municipality mergers, putting rural municipalities in danger of being abandoned. The central government tends to use more resources for urban development for wasteful mega-development projects in the name of "urban re-development instead of residents' well-being." In rural and urban areas, contradictions are sharper than ever between the interests of residents and local politics promoted by all parties except the JCP.
Firmly opposed to this adverse current, the JCP will continue to be in the forefront of the struggle to restore the local governments to their primary duty to meet the needs of residents. There are about 100 local governments with the JCP as a governing party, including those led by Communist mayors. In many parts of the country, politically non-affiliated people, including those who have supported conservative parties, have realized that cooperation with the JCP is the only way to secure the future of their regions and local governments, thus forming a promising current for the future. The task is for the JCP to help increase this current in local politics in defense of local governments from outrageous attacks.
(32) As contradictions deepen concerning local governments, cracks are spreading in the existing domination by all parties except for the JCP, and its political framework is beginning to crumble. In many elections throughout the country, incumbents or their 'successors' backed by all parties led by the LDP and the Komei Party, except the JCP, were defeated.
However, such changes in local government are varying. In some cases, voters wanted a local government with the 'residents-first' principle instead of the present upside-down politics. There are also movements trying under the guise of a "non-partisan" principle to impose a reactionary agenda on local governments to force the residents to pay more. There are also cases in which these two aspects are mixed and their future needs to be scrutinized. Careful analysis and appropriate responses are necessary for each municipality.
The point is that the JCP in all circumstances must always stand for the needs of the residents and show its banner of change in local politics. It is essential to increase the number and quality of JCP members of local assemblies. Experience shows that even when positive changes take place in local governments, real progressive change in local governments can proceed only when they are strongly backed by the JCP.
(33) The 4,200 JCP members in the nation's local assemblies constitute an important asset of the JCP and are playing an irreplaceable role at the grassroots level in defending people's living conditions.
For a democratic change in national and local politics, it is very important for JCP local assembly members to work hard to defend residents' interests, heighten their political expectations, and maintain and advance their positions.
The JCP attaches special importance to the effort to secure JCP victories in every off-year local election. In Japan, there are 960 local assemblies, one third of all local assemblies, where there are no JCP seats. This weakness must be overcome through activities that are well-planned and methodical.
(34) Since the JCP 22nd Congress, we have made strenuous efforts to build a stronger JCP. We carried out a "United Efforts to Increase JCP Membership and Akahata Readership" from October 2001 to April 2002. Again in May this year, we started another "United Efforts" toward the JCP 23rd Congress scheduled for November. Party building requires us to make more persevering and purposeful efforts than in any other area of party activities. The JCP 23rd Congress commends all party members for the enthusiasm and energy devoted to day-to-day activities to make progress in the drive.
More than 40,000 people have joined the JCP since the JCP 22nd Congress. However, the scale and speed of the membership drive is not sufficient in the light of our "five-year plan for the JCP membership drive". Although some JCP branches and bodies are beginning to produce results in the Akahata readership drive, the effort on the whole is yet to make stable progress despite many members' steady efforts. On the issue of organizing young people, we are beginning to seize new opportunities, including peace actions and the jobs-for-the-youth campaign, but the success in these efforts in the area of party building hinges on the future development of our activities in this area.
The JCP 22nd Congress decision and the later Central Committee Plenum decisions have presented the details of the basic strategy for advancing our party activities. Their main points are as follows:
- Concerning "why should we work on party building now?", (i) it is important to build a party strong enough in order to succeed through political battles no matter how fierce the political situation is, (ii) it is the time in our history to boldly lay stress on party building for a party strong enough to struggle and succeed in the 21st century.
- Regarding the question "Why party building now?", we need to be aware that it is important to build a party strong enough to be victorious in any elections under any political circumstances and that we are in an important phase of JCP history in terms of party building because we are trying to build a party that can lead the struggle in the 21st century.
- Defining the membership drive as "the pillar of party building" efforts, we plan to achieve the goal of a record 500,000-strong party by 2005. We will work to realize this goal through methodical activities according to five-year plans. The task now is for the JCP to use all its power to reduce the backlog in the membership drive.
- "Party activities centered on Akahata" is our principle. This means that the organ paper is "the link between the JCP Central Committee and the rest of the party, and the best medium that expands the ties between the JCP and the people. It is the central activity that promotes, unites, and develops diverse party activities, including the movement based on people's demands, the struggle in the Diet and local assemblies, election campaigns, party building, and financial activities. We must reaffirm this principle and make efforts for our activities in this area to be constantly developed in a stable manner.
- On qualitative improvement of JCP activities, (i) we place emphasis on political activities and grassroots activities representing the JCP in every region and locality; (ii) we adhere to the principle of "party branches as the key players"; (iii) we will develop election campaign skills; (iv) the party financially supports party activities according to plans; (v) we will tackle the question of systematically developing party leaders and activists; and (vi) we will improve our political and theoretical level. We focus on these six directions.
- We must strengthen our activities to meet young people's diverse demands and boldly call on them to join the JCP, regarding such an effort as a matter of the JCP's survival in the future in our pursuit of democratic reform in Japan. We devote all JCP power to the effort to make progress on this task.
The basic strategy is clear. The point is how to overcome our weaknesses and difficulties and put this strategy into practice, and how to put the party building efforts on a stable course of development. Therefore, we must bring all our wisdom and power together to seek effective measures through party activities.
(35) Not all JCP branches can be said to be successful in party building activities. Some branches, however, have embarked on a steady track of progress. From the experiences of these successful organizations, we can draw useful lessons, the most important one being that they are well aware of their political goals for branches to becomes key players. In parallel with their effort to invigorate the JCP with political dynamism, these branches have worked to increase party strength as a combined effort. With this experience in mind, the Central Committee proposes the following four important aspects for improving the JCP effort.
First, the JCP must devote itself to realizing people's demands. The JCP's most important raison d'ętre is its devotion to the interests and safety of the people. JCP organizations and branches should daily take up the pressing demands of the people and struggle to solve their problems. This must always be remembered as the JCP's founding spirit and the basis of JCP activity.
An important point to make is that we should take up diverse grassroots demands as well as national issues. Only by making steady day-to-day efforts to realize people's down-to-earth demands surfacing in homes as well as in labor councils, can the JCP give a full play to its strength in a struggle on a larger scale. It is necessary for the JCP to shed light on any struggle to achieve whatever demands of citizens, and encourage and give assistance for the struggle to move forward.
People will find the JCP trustworthy and feel sympathetic toward it not only by reading or listening to JCP arguments but also by witnessing JCP day-to-day activities and through their personal encounters with the JCP. In return, JCP members will regain their strength and will be reassured of the reason for their existence whenever they actually find out that the people look to the JCP as a party that cannot be destroyed. Devotion to the struggle to achieve people's needs is the source of political energy for the JCP.
Second, the theoretical and political confidence in ideals must be shared by all in the JCP. It is necessary for the JCP 23rd Congress to take up the task of fully and deeply understanding the revised JCP Program as a major undertaking related to this congress.
The JCP has achieved a major advance by experiences many ups and downs since it adopted the JCP Program 42 years ago. This is possible because the policy line of the JCP Program has helped the party to unite to carry out the tasks directed by the Program.
The 21st century will be a turbulent one. Japan under LDP politics will face deeper political, economic, social, and other crises, and will come to a historical turning point which may involve turbulence. Internationally, strong calls for the establishment of an international order of peace have taken shape in many forms out of the lawless wars waged by one country seeking complete hegemony. The crisis facing the world shows that the conditions are ripe for human society to go beyond capitalism into a future society in the 21st century in many parts of the world.
Theoretical and political confidence in the ideals each one holds becomes more important than ever in this century of turbulence. Only by gaining insight into the directions in which Japan and the rest of the world will lawfully develop can we acquire deep and unwavering confidence in dealing with all problems, turbulence and crises that may arise in the 21st century, by exerting energy stemming from this confidence.
Let us build a JCP with strong theoretical and political basis by defining the task of driving home the revised JCP Program as a major undertaking to set up a theoretical and political base for the JCP struggle in the 21st century.
Third, the effort to overcome the difficulty we face in the Akahata readership drive is now at a crucial stage. Whether JCP activities based on increasing Akahata readership move forward or suffer a setback is the clearest reflection of the strength of the tie between the JCP and the public. Whether the JCP can put this activity on a course of stable progress or not influences the rise or fall of the JCP.
Akahata newspaper is, above all else, marked by its mission to report critical perspectives and arouse public interest in social justice. While most of the mass media have major weaknesses such as lacking principled ideals to uphold, bowing to power and distorting facts, Akahata is the newspaper that the people cannot do away with for them to understand the major current in Japan and the world, get to the truth underlying that current, and increase public awareness of socially relevant issues in Japanese society.
Akahata is the banner of "warm and humane solidarity". At a time when the law of the jungle in a super competitive society is prevalent under Liberal Democratic Party politics, there is an increasing tendency to despise others and a deepening crisis of social morals, and Akahata is playing the role as a network for social solidarity.
Akahata is a banner for struggles for social justice. In developing popular struggles for a world order of peace, in establishing rules to safeguard the people's living standards, and also in defending democracy and human rights, Akahata is a reliable partner.
Akahata supports all day-to-day JCP activities in the Diet and local assemblies, election campaigns, and financial activities. The JCP is the only party that refuses to accept any donations from corporations and organizations as well as government subsidies to political parties. Its independent financial basis is supported by contributions by individual persons. This enables the JCP to work for the people without anything to fear as taboo. Increasing the Akahata readership is at a juncture in terms of its role in supporting the party's financial basis.
Let's work together to achieve the further development of Akahata which is irreplaceable for the people as well as the JCP.
Fourth, we must drastically improve activities of JCP local bodies. Despite organizational and financial difficulties, JCP prefectural and district committees are making strenuous day-to-day efforts, playing an indispensable role in building and supporting the party.
We should improve activities at local JCP bodies in a way that would encourage party members to voluntarily take part in work there as full-time activists knowing that full-time JCP activists are working under difficult conditions.
Under the JCP Constitution revised at the 22nd Congress, we will make further efforts to develop our activities in intermediate bodies to meet the new relationship the JCP has with society. The JCP Constitution allows district committees to autonomously handle local matters to meet actual local needs. It is important for local JCP bodies to carry out activities, including those related to local government affairs, on behalf of the Japanese Communist Party in their regions and districts. Local JCP bodies must give their guidance to branches in interactive and circular ways, listening to branch members; it must try to draw branch members' willingness to contribute to JCP advances. The task of local JCP bodies is to help branches and learn from their experiences.
It is also important to nurture an environment that encourages the whole JCP to support local bodies in terms of manpower, finances, and spirit. In particular, the party must concentrate its efforts to strengthen local bodies through staffing able committee members. We should do everything possible to bring up young promising successors while relying on experienced members who are pensioners as full-time or part-time leadership members.
An approach to successful party building, including membership and Akahata readership drive, needs peculiar efforts by the entire party. Such efforts will bear fruit only when we work to increase fresh political vitality.
Let's challenge ourselves to a new progress in party building efforts through focusing decisively on efforts to "build a JCP full of political vitality." (end)
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