(1) JCP's Advance and the Era of "LDP-JCP" Confrontation

In the three years since the 20th JCP Congress the struggle has opened up an era of new advance by the Japanese Communist Party.

In national elections, the party made advances in the 1995 House of Councilors election, and increased its seats from 5 to 8, and in the 1996 House of Representatives general election, increased its seats from 15 to 26. The 7.26 million votes, 13.08% of the total vote, won by the party in the 1996 general election was an historic advance of record proportions, greater than what the party achieved in the 1970s. The introduction of the single-seat constituency system for House of Representatives elections was a fascist-like attempt to exclude the JCP from political circles. The advance the party made even under the adversely revised system shows that no matter what bad laws there are the expansion of ties between the JCP and the people cannot be blocked.

In local elections, the JCP surpassed the Liberal Democratic Party in the 1995 simultaneous local elections, and became the top party with the highest number of local assembly members, and since then has steadily increased its seats which are now 4,051 (at the time of the Congress). Also in July 1997, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the JCP doubled its seats from 13 to 26, which made the party second only to the LDP in the Metropolitan Assembly, a magnificent achievement which caused shock waves not only in Metropolitan politics but also national politics. This proved that following the general election the new wave of support for and expectations of the JCP is still spreading.

There have also been new progressive and democratic local governments established. The number of municipalities in which the JCP is the only government party has increased to 66, and resident-oriented new policies have been consistently developing. This is a hopeful change in local government in Japan toward the 21st century. Since all the other parties have abandoned the position of promoting the original task of local government as "a body for the welfare of the residents," if one wants to establish local government based on the principle of autonomy as provided by the Constitution and the Local Autonomy Law, there is no other way but to overcome political differences and cooperate with the JCP; such a situation is developing throughout the country.

This series of developments is making big positive changes to the power relations between the parties. The fact that the JCP votes in the general election were equivalent to about 40% of the votes for the ruling LDP, and in the Metropolitan Assembly election, equivalent to about 70% of the LDP votes is very important because this shows that the JCP's political weight is increasing so that the party can now have a real perspective of taking part in government depending on the further advances we make. These facts show that the actual pivot of Japan's politics is "LDP-JCP confrontation," that it is not just confrontation on political course but is becoming one involving actual political capacity.

(2) Support for the JCP Spreading in a Political Situation in Which All Parties, Except the JCP, Just Mimic the LDP

This new trend for advance is not a temporary or accidental phenomenon. It is a change arising from the present basic political structure at both national and local levels which should be described as "all parties, except the JCP, support LDP politics" by which all parties, except the JCP, have been absorbed into LDP politics.

Under such "all-are-ruling-parties" politics a series of bad policies, which the LDP could not have implemented when it was the only ruling party, have been consistently pushed through. In the past few years, many outrageous bills, which in the past would have called for fierce debate during several Diet sessions, have been rammed through the Diet and made law in defiance of the strong opposition by a majority of the people. They include the single-seat constituency system for House of Representatives elections, state subsidies for political parties, the consumption tax rate increase, liberalization of rice imports, adverse revision of the pension system, use of taxpayers' money to settle the "jusen" (housing loan companies) business failures, adverse revision of the medical insurance system, and the adverse revision of the Special Arrangement Act for land expropriation for the U.S. forces. The practice of stripping parliament of its democratic functions and turning it into just a rubber stamp has increased, by railroading bills through without adequate Diet debate, following agreement through the out-of-Diet "dango" (secret negotiations) between the parties without the JCP. People are dumbfounded at the unprincipled behavior of the political parties and politicians who renege on their election pledges and repeatedly divide and merge. In the face of this very extraordinary situation, even some of those who promote bad politics have expressed a sense of crisis and anxiety, with one saying, "This reminds me of the prewar Imperial Rule Assistance Association."

Within the "all-are-ruling-parties" framework, there have been repeated attempts to create false "confrontations" and false "alternatives." But no formation of new parties and changing names can in any way bring about new politics but just helps the LDP to promote its bad politics. This is evidenced by the present position of the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto), the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) and the Social Democratic Party (Shaminto; former Socialist Party--ed.). The Tokyo Metropolitan people's severe judgment against these parties in the Metropolitan Assembly election clearly showed that there is no future in such cheap tricks.

Underlying the increase in the number of people who do not support any specific party is their disillusionment with and rejection of the "all-are-ruling-parties"politics. The direction these people want to take, while groping for what to do, on the whole equates to the JCP's position. The JCP has been engaged in expanding dialogue, exchanges and cooperation with many people who do not support any specific party. In the Metropolitan Assembly election, as reported, about a quarter of such non-party people who went to polling stations actually voted for the JCP, and cooperation between the JCP and such people has developed steadily in every election.

In contrast to all the other parties which have turned into "Second LDPs," the significance of the existence of the JCP has been brought into sharp relief. The JCP's political consistency based on the people's interests has created new support among broad strata of the people. The existence and activity of the JCP is now indispensable support for the people who want to defend their living conditions under the "all-are-ruling-parties" politics and who wish for a hopeful future.

(3) The Struggle against Reactionary and Anticommunist Attacks and Victory of the JCP's Political Line

In the two decades, after the JCP's advance in the 1970s ended, it had to undertake severe struggle against reactionary and anticommunist attacks. The JCP's new upturn today is due to this undaunted struggle.

In Japan's prewar days and during World War II, JCP members and supporters were called "national traitors" and "un-Japanese" and were specifically attacked in an anticommunist atmosphere rarely seen in other capitalist countries. In addition, from the 1970s they mobilized for a full scale "postwar second-round reactionary offensive." An anticommunist campaign, under the banner, "Defend free society," was developed and a setup was established for "excluding the JCP" from both political and labor fronts. Attacks were launched from the end of the 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s, based on the argument of "choice between the capitalist and socialist systems" which made most use of the collapse of the regimes in the former Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries. This was a very severe offensive launched with the aim of reducing the JCP to being a very small party in Japan's political world, and possibly eliminating it if they had had the chance.

While standing firm against this anticommunist negative current, we kept on talking with pride to the people about the whole JCP picture, especially its history and political line, and we finally maintained our stronghold. All this gave rise to today's major JCP advance. These stormy anticommunist attacks got the JCP into shape, and the party's qualitative ties with the people were further consolidated. Therefore, the JCP's upward trend today has a stronger basis compared to the JCP advance from the 1960s to the first half of the 1970s.

Needless to say, the forthcoming road will not be straightforward for us. The reactionary forces are more on their guard against the JCP advance. We should never underestimate their ability to use all kinds of schemes for promoting new counter currents. But we are now equipped with a political line and historic experience for overcoming any such attacks, and have accumulated theoretical and practical experience from our struggles by which we have in fact overcome previous attacks. These experiences are valuable assets which are available for any future struggle.

Many sections of the mass media abroad are also giving attention to the JCP advance in the elections. "Why is the communist party so active in Japan?" This was their common question. When they looked for the source of the JCP's active spirit, they commonly pointed to the vitality of the party's history and line over the past 75 years, as expressed in its traditional line of independence, by which it fought the outrages of the former Soviet Union and other countries; and JCP history in which JCP members even at the cost of their own lives opposed the wars of aggression and despotic rule; plus its programmatic line in which it set out a road for social progress by means of democratic change even within the framework of the capitalist system; its clean position of having nothing to do with fund donations by companies and organizations and money-ridden politics. This vitality was established through harsh struggles by many of our predecessors from the time the JCP was founded, which we have succeeded to today.

The whole party is required to grasp the meaning of the political current of today's JCP advance as a victory for the party's political line and the result of our undaunted struggle based on this line, and we must become convinced of this to make further advances.

(4) Activity to Meet New Relations with People and Their New Expectations of the JCP

The JCP advance in the general election and in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election is further changing people's view of the party. Broad strata of the people, even including those who have rejected the JCP and taken no interest in it in the past, are now giving attention to it, showing interest in it, and have begun to express expectations of it. As relations between the JCP and the people have now entered a new qualitative stage, we must undertake activity to adequately meet this situation.

The fences of "misunderstanding and prejudice" that have so far separated the JCP from the people are breaking down. Many people are freeing themselves from past misunderstandings and prejudices and have now begun to evaluate the JCP, based on their own judgment of JCP policy and activity. Commenting on this some from the LDP and business circles have said, "It is a great surprise to us that the JCP is being accepted by the voters as being a usual political party." We must drastically widen our perspective, and seek more dialogue and cooperation with all people.

It is quite probable that many of the voters who supported the JCP did so, because they wanted to cast a "critical vote against the politics in which all the other parties now accept LDP policy." The important fact is that such people's criticism of today's politics found expression in them putting their trust in the JCP. Also many people have expressed the hope to us that the JCP should become "a party influential enough to change actual politics," and "a party that can shoulder national government." Therefore, there is the strong need for us to carry out activity at both national and local levels to meet such expectations of the party. We must push ahead with our activity aimed at gaining the people's trust: "We feel confident to trust the party with government," by developing our activity and achievements in actual politics. In the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, in which we are now the second largest party, as well as in the Diet, we must demonstrate the party's existence and practical capacity worthy of the position, and this is our great responsibility to the voters.

But the point we have now reached is a rudimentary one, in the context of the JCP goal for progressive political change. We will make every effort to achieve a further wave of advance at both national and local levels, carrying forward the growing perspective of a party capable of shouldering the task of national administration in the early part of the 21st century. We will make efforts to develop a national consensus for democratic change in Japan, by clearly presenting the goal and substance of the new democratic Japan which the JCP is aiming for.

HOME:www.jcp.or.jp/english The Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party 4-26-7 Sendagaya,Shibuya-ku,Tokyo 151-8586 E-mail:info@jcp.or.jp © .JCP