July 9, 2020

The Japanese Communist Party and other opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at a meeting of Diet affairs chiefs in the Diet building on July 8, decided to work together to rescue and support the victims of heavy rains now hitting the country and achieve disaster recovery in the affected region.

They agreed to demand that both chambers' special committees on disaster hold discussions on countermeasures against torrential rains. They also reaffirmed the need to revise the Natural Disaster Victims Relief Law as proposed jointly by the opposition parties.

JCP Diet Affairs Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji said, "The ongoing heavy rains are dealing a double punch to the people in affected regions who already suffer from the negative impact of the coronavirus crisis. We should take immediate measures to help affected people."

As some experts point out, the preparedness of public health centers to deal with COVID-19 infections has not improved at all since February. Regarding this issue, the opposition parties said that they will look into the situation on the occasion of Budget Committee meetings with the attendance of relevant ministers.