Home About Chat Users Issues Party Candidates Polling Firms Media News Polls Calendar Key Races United States President Senate House Governors International

New User Account
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource." 
Email: Password:

  JCP basks in discontent as faith in capitalism crumbles
NEWS DETAILS
Parent(s) Party 
ContributorRalphie 
Last EditedRalphie  May 04, 2009 02:46pm
Logged 0
CategoryProfile
News DateWednesday, April 22, 2009 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionUnder a big red flag, the Japanese Communist Party's headquarters stand as the center of a vibrant grassroots movement.

The party's ranks are swelling, it has 24,000 branch offices and more than 1 million people read its newspaper. Only one party — the one that runs the country — beats it at fundraising.

As the economy withers, communist notions are seeing something of a revival.

Dormant in the boom years and marginalized as the nation clawed its way out of recession, the JCP's litany of capitalist evils is now resonating deeply with many Japanese — especially the young — who are feeling the pain of an economic downturn that some say has reached depression dimensions.

Although the JCP — the fourth-largest party in the Diet, but with only 16 of the 722 total seats — is not likely to take power, it is making itself felt.

Leading the JCP renaissance is Kazuo Shii, the round-faced party chief, who has become one of Japan's most recognizable politicians and something of a media star, grilling the country's conservative leaders from his Diet perch and unfailingly appearing before the cameras with what boils down to: "I told you so."
Share
ArticleRead Full Article

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION