September 24 & 25, 2016
Opposition parties and a local Civil Alliance in Niigata Prefecture on September 23 held a press conference and announced that they will jointly support lawyer and doctor Yoneyama Ryuichi as a candidate for the gubernatorial election (slated for October 16) in which the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant will be one of the hot campaign issues.
Yoneyama is a former head of a Democratic Party branch in Niigata Prefecture. When he was asked to become a joint opposition candidate, the DP prefectural organization expressed its disapproval to this suggestion. As a result, Yoneyama decided to leave the DP and run in the gubernatorial race as an independent candidate.
Together with Yoneyama, representatives of the local Civil Alliance, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the People’s Life Party attended the press conference.
Yoneyama said, “Niigata hosts the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station which is the largest NPP in the world. I’ll step into the shoes of the sitting governor who has been claiming that it is unacceptable to discuss the reactivation of that NPP before the examination into the Fukushima nuclear accident is completed.”
Regarding another election issue, the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, Yoneyama expressed his intent to listen to Niigata citizens’ voices in order to protect Niigata’s agriculture which produces top quality rice in Japan.
On the following day, a civil group backing Yoneyama held a rally in Niigata City with 250 people participating, expressing the intent to work hard for a victory in the gubernatorial election.
After Yoneyama gave a speech, representatives of five political parties joining in the civil group delivered speeches. The five political parties are the JCP, the SDP, the PLP, the New Socialist party of Japan, and Greens Japan.
JCP Niigata Prefectural Committee Chair Hiwatashi Shijio said, “The opposition force has united to block the reactivation of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP and agreed to field Yoneyama as a joint candidate in the coming election. Let’s increase our joint efforts with concerned citizens and opposition parties to win the election.”
PLP member of the House of Councilors Mori Yuko, who won in a single-seat district as a joint opposition candidate in Niigata in the July Upper House election, also delivered a speech.
It is reported that the election will be a two-horse race between Yoneyama and LDP/Komei backed Mori Tamio who is a former mayor of Niigata’s Nagaoka City.
Past related article:
> JCP reveals risk of contaminated water leakage at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP [September 16, 2016]
Yoneyama is a former head of a Democratic Party branch in Niigata Prefecture. When he was asked to become a joint opposition candidate, the DP prefectural organization expressed its disapproval to this suggestion. As a result, Yoneyama decided to leave the DP and run in the gubernatorial race as an independent candidate.
Together with Yoneyama, representatives of the local Civil Alliance, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the People’s Life Party attended the press conference.
Yoneyama said, “Niigata hosts the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station which is the largest NPP in the world. I’ll step into the shoes of the sitting governor who has been claiming that it is unacceptable to discuss the reactivation of that NPP before the examination into the Fukushima nuclear accident is completed.”
Regarding another election issue, the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, Yoneyama expressed his intent to listen to Niigata citizens’ voices in order to protect Niigata’s agriculture which produces top quality rice in Japan.
On the following day, a civil group backing Yoneyama held a rally in Niigata City with 250 people participating, expressing the intent to work hard for a victory in the gubernatorial election.
After Yoneyama gave a speech, representatives of five political parties joining in the civil group delivered speeches. The five political parties are the JCP, the SDP, the PLP, the New Socialist party of Japan, and Greens Japan.
JCP Niigata Prefectural Committee Chair Hiwatashi Shijio said, “The opposition force has united to block the reactivation of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP and agreed to field Yoneyama as a joint candidate in the coming election. Let’s increase our joint efforts with concerned citizens and opposition parties to win the election.”
PLP member of the House of Councilors Mori Yuko, who won in a single-seat district as a joint opposition candidate in Niigata in the July Upper House election, also delivered a speech.
It is reported that the election will be a two-horse race between Yoneyama and LDP/Komei backed Mori Tamio who is a former mayor of Niigata’s Nagaoka City.
Past related article:
> JCP reveals risk of contaminated water leakage at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP [September 16, 2016]
