The Standing Executive Committee of the Japanese Communist Party on August 31 published the following statement on the results of the August 30 House of Representatives election:
(1)
In the House of Representatives general election on August 30, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties, which have been under severe criticism for destroying people’s livelihoods and undermining the peace, suffered a crushing defeat and have been forced to relinquish power. The LDP decreased its number of seats to 119, or one-third of its pre-election strength. The Komei Party also decreased its number of seats from 31 to 21.
The JCP has stood up to the LDP-Komei government on all adverse policies. During the election campaign, the JCP called on voters to “put an end to the LDP-Komei government.”
The JCP now welcomes the electoral verdict as a first major step forward in Japanese politics.
(2)
The JCP secured its nine proportional representation seats. It received 4.94 million votes, up from 4.91 million in the 2005 general election, although the JCP’s shares of vote fell to 7.03 percent from the previous 7.25 percent.
The majority of the voters in this election called for a “No LDP-Komei government.” This call has arisen in the process of LDP politics going down the drain. It has contributed to achieving progress in politics. At the same time, however, this call was answered by a major trend throwing support behind the Democratic Party, which was promoted by a major campaign that this election is about a choice of government choosing between “two major parties”. This trend influenced many in areas where the JCP campaign was weak. This actually made it difficult to increase the number of votes for the JCP.
Considering the adverse conditions, the JCP put up a good fight in just retaining the number of seats it held before the election and increasing the number of votes cast for the JCP. We express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who voted for the JCP, particularly to JCP supporters, including JCP Supporters’ Associations members, as well as JCP members who braved the hot weather to work hard during the election campaign.
(3)
Following the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the JCP Standing Executive Committee on July 16 issued a statement entitled, “Use the upcoming general election as an opportunity to put an end to LDP-Komei government policies and choose a new direction for Japanese politics.” The JCP carried out its election campaign based on this statement.
Sharing strong criticism of the LDP-Komei government with the majority of the people, we made clear that we used this campaign opportunity to explore the political direction Japan should take in the 21st-century. In particular, our declaration that we struggle to be an “opposition party acting in a constructive manner” under a new government that would be established after the election was responded to favorably by many people. We believe that this campaign appeal was accepted by a wide range of people as a proactive appeal and that this made it possible for the JCP to put up a good fight.
(4)
As clear from the election results, the JCP has a very important role to play as an opposition party that acts in a constructive manner. It will make every effort in cooperation with popular movements in order to realize our election campaign platform. Our position toward a DPJ-led government will be one of cooperating in carrying out policies in the public interest. We will reject anything that is not in the public interest. From this position, we are ready to do our best to improve actual policies.
We will strive to do away with old politics serving the interests of Japanese business circles and the Japan-U.S. military alliance in order to pave the way for establishing the people-first principle in a new Japan. Voters passed a severe verdict on the LDP-Komei government in the general election, but various public opinion polls show that they did not throw full support behind DPJ policies. Citizens will continue to explore a new political direction for Japan replacing the politics of the LDP-Komei coalition government. We will work to make known widely to the public that our proposals of change offer alternatives.
(5)
The election campaign made us realize how important it is to create a strong party. We have made every effort to develop the strength to achieve a JCP advance under any political situation. While developing the struggle to realize public demands, we have laid the groundwork for making new JCP advances through the nationwide effort to publicize the JCP Program, including the JCP view of a future society and the major campaign to increase party membership and the readership of Akahata. But our effort has only made some initial progress and is on the verge of further development.
Under the new political situation, the national role that the JCP can play will be more important than ever. We will continue to strive to build a stronger party in both quality and quantity so that it will be able to fulfill the role.
- Akahata, September 1, 2009
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