January 29, 2025
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira, at a press conference held in the Diet building on January 28, asserted that “LDP politics will not change even if a pseudo-opposition party, namely the ‘Nippon Ishin no Kai’, makes a breakthrough because it is this party that has played a role in propping up the LDP.”
The “Ishin” party is proposing online “primaries” to unify opposition candidates in single-seat constituencies for the upcoming Upper House election. The JCP responded on January 27 that it will not accept Ishin’s proposal.
In response, Maehara Seiji, a co-leader of the Ishin party, said that the JCP’s refusal “would benefit the LDP,” adding, “I’d like to question that point.”
Referring to Maehara’s comment, Koike counterargued, “Which party has been doing things that benefit the LDP? I’d like to ask the same question to the Ishin.”
Koike noted that the Ishin party at the extraordinary Diet session late last year made a verbal promise to strive for tuition-free education and agreed to the LDP-proposed supplementary budget that will be primarily spent for the planned arms buildup and for large corporations. He said, “It was the Ishin party that gave a helping hand to the LDP. The Ishin should reflect on how it has benefited the LDP.”
Koike added, “Our party has consistently called for a joint struggle of opposition parties with concerned citizens since 2015 and is now doing everything for new developments in the opposition parties-citizens cooperation. In contrast, the Ishin has repeatedly made a baseless accusation that the joint effort by opposition parties is an ‘illicit union’.”
Koike stated, “Any party that takes a completely opposite direction from us on the Constitution cannot be a prospective counterpart in the opposition-citizens alliance.”
Past related articles:
> FY2024 supplementary budget prioritizing military buildup over support for disaster-hit Noto enacted [December 18, 2024]
> Tamura: Ishin party and DPFP are unacceptable partners in opposition parties’ joint struggle
[March 20, 2024]
