General Election	No.647 August 25, 2009
		The voting of general elections comes on August 30. We are in the middle of the final campaign. It is an opportunity to win the right of people to live in peace, free from fear and want, proclaimed in the constitution. Let’s make the best efforts to support Candidate Hara Kazumi as well as others who defend constitutional principles. MAKE BEST EFFORTS FOR HYOGO ELECTION CONSTITUENCY Time to Counterattack This summer commemorated the 64th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in the WWII as well as the bombings over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We thought over not only the determinations to evade a war to settle international conflicts and to eliminate nuclear arms, but also life and death of human beings. A government survey says this year will have again over 30,000 suicides. Last year in Akihabara, a downtown Tokyo, a dozen people were killed in the street. The offender told to police that it had not been the matter to him whom to kill. Some people, meanwhile, expect wars. The society of Japan is neurotic. The Asahi Shinbun newspaper quoted in the news commentary a few days ago, referring to the tragic war: ‘facing a death, I was to be one of the deaths counted. It was sheer despair’ and ‘everyone must be called by name, when died’. People count: they count suicides, victims of natural disasters, deaths from the new flu and fallen soldiers in the war in Iraq. They do not care about a life of each person or his/her dignity. The structural reform policy implemented by the Koizumi government and subsequent coalition regimes of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito deteriorated the moral of society. The election is an opportunity for every voter to counterattack. We believe that human life is the greatest priority. President Obama of the United States, the biggest nuclear state, pledged to exterminate nuclear arms. In Japan, however, the ruling class is divided: some assert a preemptive strike against the enemy. Tamogami Toshio, former chief-of-staff of the Air Self Defense Forces, who insists to arm the nation with nuclear arsenal, gave a lecture entitled ‘I doubt peace of Hiroshima’. We are at the crossroad of history. It is a hot summer for us to change the society. We Cannot Trust DPJ Mass media say the election focus is alternation of government. It is true in terms of ending the LDP-Komeito regime. But we must emphasize, ‘Don’t trust the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)’. Constitution-defenders are obliged to retreat. Contentions are staged in many constituencies between the LDP and DPJ. Constitution-defenders failed to field sufficient candidates to offer the electorate a third choice. A serious analysis of the situation is needed. Under these circumstances it is right to elect ‘the better’ candidate, but we must find out a hidden key, democracy and the election system. The DPJ claims, firstly, to reduce waste of money: to decrease by 80 the proportional representation seats in the Lower House and shrink the Upper House in parallel. The DPJ claims the number of lawmakers is too big. The fact is, however, that the number of local assemblymen had been contracted by the government policy to merge municipalities in order, allegedly, to overcome the financial crisis, though it was artificially created. Opinions and demands of minorities are denied in the small constituency election system. Regulations prevent the minority from speaking out. From the local level to the state level people’s voices are not reflected. Thus democracy is being undermined. As was seen in the last ordinary Diet session, the DPJ lacks capabilities to attack capitalist reign. It favored to enact the law for Minamata disease patients to close the case, in which the victims are left unprotected, and to shelve the Worker Dispatch Act until the next session. We cannot trust the party in terms of its decentralization policy and reduction of municipal workers, a surge of consumption tax rate, diplomacy and national security, in particular, their approval of the controversial right of collective national security, which is banned by Constitution. Until Ballot Boxes Are Closed Each vote has a weight. No vote is cast in vain. Workers and citizens must cooperate. Unity brings us victory. Let’s do what we can do until the ballot boxes are closed. Let’s fight for victory of Candidate Hara Kazumi.