The Japanese Communist Party has no plans to change tack ahead of the upcoming general election, training its guns on the policies of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whom it accuses of pandering to big business and the United States.
In an interview with The Japan Times, Kazuo Shii, the 49-year-old chairman of the JCP Executive Committee, stated that many of Koizumi's policies primarily serve these two entities rather than ordinary people.
For example, businesses will probably benefit more than the public from the proposed reform of the social security system, if, as Shii suspects, their financial burden is reduced by way of a consumption tax hike. He instead advocates cutting public works and defense outlays.