May 23, 2018

Six opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, on May 22 agreed to force Prime Minister Abe to resign by taking advantage of an opportunity created by newly released documents regarding the Kake Gakuen scandal.

The secretaries-general of the JCP, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Group of Independents on the day met in the Diet building and discussed responses to the situation provoked through the submission of the new records by the Ehime Prefectural government to the House of Councilors Budge Committee.

In the six-party meeting, JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira said, “The opposition bloc should unite to bring down the Abe government and prevent the ruling coalition from steamrolling government-proposed bills through the Diet without clarifying all of the facts behind the Kake scandal.”

The six parties’ representatives confirmed that the new documents make it clear that the Kake scandal regarding the opening of a new veterinary school was initiated by the February 2015 meeting between PM Abe and Kake Kotaro, the Kake Gakuen school corporation president. The six parties shared the view that the Ehime documents deepen suspicions that PM Abe lied to the Diet regarding his involvement in the Kake scandal, and reached a consensus to work to push PM Abe to step down.

The six parties agreed to request the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties to summon Abe’s former Executive Secretary Yanase and Kake as sworn witnesses and Ehime Governor Nakamura Tokihiro as an unsworn witness; hold intensive sessions without delay; and refrain from using their majority force in Diet steering and deliberations to obstruct inquiries.

Past related articles:
> Ehime Prefecture’s records cast suspicion on PM Abe about false statement regarding Kake veterinary school [May 22, 2018]
> Yanase unwittingly highlights Abe’s involvement in ‘Kake’ scandal [May 11, 2018]