Japan Press Weekly

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2016 October 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Opposition party leaders jointly campaign to win seat in Lower House by-election in Fukuoka

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo and representatives of three other opposition parties on October 19 participated in a street speech held in Fukuoka’s Kurume City with the aim of realizing the victory of joint candidate Arai Fumiko in the October 23 House of Representatives by-election in the 6th Fukuoka District.

Odori Shin’ichiro, who heads a civil group which initiated the street speech event, said, “Labeling the opposition alliance as an ‘illicit union’ misses the whole point. It is an expression of democracy in action.”

JCP Chair Shii cited joint opposition candidate Yoneyama Ryuichi’s victory in the Niigata gubernatorial race three days before. Shii said, “We opposition parties will work hard together with concerned citizens to defeat the ruling Liberal Democratic-Komei coalition in Fukuoka.”

Furthermore, the JCP chair referred to the pressing issue of the government plan to assign new duties to Self-Defense Forces troops participating in the UN PKO mission in South Sudan. Shii criticized Prime Minister Abe Shinzo for refusing to admit to the fact that the situation in that country is worsening following the breakout of massive fighting in July. Shii emphasized the possibility of SDF personnel “killing” or “being killed” in South Sudan for the first time in Japan’s postwar history. “In order to repeal the war laws and restore constitutionalism, let’s work hard for Arai’s victory,” he said.

Democratic Party Acting President Azumi Jun, Liberal Party (formerly known as People’s Life Party) Secretary General Tamaki Denny, and Social Democratic Party Chair Yoshida Tadatomo separately appealed to voters for their support for Arai.

Past related article:
> 4 opposition parties field joint candidates in Lower House by-elections [October 6, 2016]