February 15, 2022

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on February 14 at a press conference in the Diet building commented on the latest news coverage that the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan plans to set up a forum for talks with the Democratic Party for the People and the right-leaning “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party.

Koike pointed out that under a situation where the Ishin party plays a role in supporting constitutional revision and the implementation of anti-people policies by the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties, the need is to firmly stand up against the formation of an “all-are-ruling-party” structure. He said that the CDPJ’s move goes against opposition parties’ role to hamper and oppose the actions of the parties in power.

Koike recalled the past talks regarding opposition parties’ collaboration and stressed, “The JCP, the CDPJ, and other parties in the talks, based on the recognition that the Ishin party is the ruling block’s supplementary force, repeatedly confirmed the stance of not inviting the party to collaborate.” He said, “If the Ishin party is regarded as an ‘opposition party’ eligible to join opposition parties’ cooperation, this will pose a fundamental dilemma questioning the role and responsibilities of the opposition parties.”

Asked if the JCP is taking part in the CDPJ-proposed forum, Koike mentioned a possibility of exchanging information among political parties in the Diet building, and said, “Like the latest move, an attempt to incorporate the Ishin party in an ‘opposition framework’ while criticizing and marginalizing the JCP will create a distrust in opposition parties among the general public.”