May 28, 2024

Concerned citizens and opposition parties at a candidate selection meeting on May 27 decided to field Renho, a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as a joint opposition candidate for the Tokyo gubernatorial election (to be officially announced on June 20 and held on July 7).

After the selection meeting, Japanese Communist Party Secretariate Head Koike Akira told reporters that the JCP will do its utmost to help to achieve Renho’s victory.

He said, “The current metropolitan government led by Governor Koike Yuriko is in policy alignment with the Liberal Democratic Party which prioritizes the immediate interests of the business world over the lives of the residents of Tokyo. We will go into the election campaign from the standpoint of realizing a change in the metropolitan government policies led by Koike for two terms and eight years.”

Meanwhile, at a press conference for her candidacy, Renho stated that she would like the support from an all-Tokyo, anti-LDP and non-Koike metropolitan government framework based on the past joint struggle of concerned citizens working with opposition parties.

In response to a reporter’s question about if she would be able to win without the backing of the joint struggle of the opposition parties, including the JCP, she replied, “I will, of course, value the relationship of trust with the opposition parties you just mentioned.”