INTERVIEW: JCP's Shii Says LDP Politics Worse Over 3 Decades

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)--The politics of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party have deteriorated step by step over the past three decades, Kazuo Shii, chairman of the Japanese Communist Party's Central Committee, said in a recent interview.

Recalling his tenure of more than 30 years as a lawmaker, Shii, 71, said that his debate with then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in the 1990s made a lasting impression on him.

He said that Hashimoto addressed his questions directly and did not leave them to bureaucrats. "Despite our differing positions, I felt a sense of clarity," said Shii, who does not run in the upcoming House of Representatives election.

Shii said that in the 2000s his relationship with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was characterized by the Pyongyang Declaration, struck between Japan and North Korea, describing it as a "milestone in the history of Japanese diplomacy."

"When I presented my proposal over the declaration, (Koizumi) took it seriously, saying, 'Thank you, Mr. Shii,'" he recalled.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]