Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has declared to dissolve the Diet for his personal sake to cover up the scandals. He has refused a demand to hold an extraordinary session which was claimed by the opposition parties. Premier, taking advantage of ‘the critical situation on the Korean Peninsula’, is intended to revise Article Nine of the Constitution as well as implement fully the controversial national security laws. The only way to break down the premier’s ambition lies in cooperation of the opposition parties and civic groups in the general election.


LET’S END ABE REGIME THROUGH GENERAL ELECTIONS


Premier Disdains People and Makes Violent Decision


Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has dissolved the House of Representatives at the opening of the extraordinary session of the Diet. He has refused the demand by the opposition parties to hold a Diet session in compliance with the constitutional procedures. The premier’s decision is to conceal the suspicions on the schools of Kake Gakuen and Moritomo and to close up the case of diary kept and hidden by the Ministry of Defense on the PKO missions in South Sudan.


At the same time Premier has chosen an optimum time when the Democratic Party is not ready for general election, cooperation of opposition forces is not yet built up and the moves to establish a new political party by Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko and her close allies are uncertain. Premier Abe has opted for a strategic exit to favor the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).


Criticisms have risen from the LDP, too. They say that ‘people are cheated’ and ‘dissolution without any cause’. Premier uses his position to manage state politics for his interests, recklessly denying the Diet.


Ambition to Destroy Article Nine


President of the United States Donald Trump made his UN speech on September 19, which was his first, formal, international address after inauguration of last January. He defined Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as ‘a reckless regime’ and implied a military option, including nuclear weapons, saying that ‘if it (US) is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea’.


On the following day, September 20, Prime Minister Abe delivered a speech. During his 16-minutes-long address he spent over 80% of the time to talk about DPRK. He declared that ‘it is pressure not dialogue that is necessary’. He does not feel ashamed of even though he discarded a hope of people of the world who wish a peaceful settlement of the issue. He is striving to survive; he foments a critical mood on the Korean Peninsula and attempts to put the national security laws in full force to amend Article Nine of the Constitution, which renounces a war and prohibits possession of war potential.


Secretary General of the United Nations Guterres emphasized ‘a diplomatic settlement of the issue’, saying that ‘it is time to exert political capabilities’. The secretary general alerted to the world, stressing ‘we must not sleepwalk our way into a nuclear war’, and told that majority of peoples in the world seek for dialogue, not pressure to stop competitions on nuclear deterrent.


A Broader Joint Front


General elections will come soon here in Japan. The New Socialist Party will run a candidate in the Constituency No.9 of Hyogo Prefecture, Mr. Kikuchi Noriyuki. The party is determined to lead him to victory as a universal candidate of the opposition forces. It is also ready to struggle so that candidates supported jointly by the opposition in all the constituencies in the country.


The four opposition political parties are to collaborate to adjust candidacy in the constituencies. The key lies in selection of universal candidates to be fielded jointly by an agreement of all the opposition bodies. Otherwise, voters will lose trust in the opposition politicians.


Aside from the small constituencies, proportional representation blocs give a chance to citizens to choose a favorite political line through a list of candidates presented by every political party. The NSP hopes that the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party should form an olive tree-style coalition which citizens of broader strata could join, sharing policies in common to object the neo-liberal line of the ruling parties.


Time is short till the start of campaign. The NSP made on September 21 a request to the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party ‘to list candidates in the proportional representation channel’.


Let’s fight to halt moves to revise Article Nine of the Constitution. Let’s defeat the Abe government, the most rogue since the end of WWII. Let’s get united with the opposition parties and civic groups.




October 3, 2017