In the recently conducted elections in Japan, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has more than doubled its seats in the Lower House. The party now has 21 lawmakers in the chamber. Previously, the JCP had held eight seats. Even though Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition was elected back to power, the increased mandate given by the people of Japan to the JCP clearly indicates a disillusionment with Abe’s economic policies.
The performance of the JCP has been credited to the fact that the JCP openly and robustly confronted the Abe government’s policies, unlike the other opposition parties. JCP campaigned on a platform that was the polar opposite of that of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Attacking Abe for widening the gap between rich and poor, the JCP pledged to raise taxes on big corporations and the wealthy. It also vowed to abolish the second stage of the consumption tax hike. On security, the JCP pledged to withdraw the Abe Cabinet’s July decision to reinterpret the war-renouncing Constitution of Japan. It is also opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the massive free trade agreement being pursued by the United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim economies.
During the past year, the JCP has been steadily improving its performance. In the June 2013 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the JCP more than doubled its seats to 17, up from eight. The party made similar gains in the Upper House election the following month, boosting its seats in the chamber to 11, up from six.
