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2017 April 26 - May 9 TOP3 [JCP]

Tokyo JCP pledges to win cancellation of Tsukiji relocation in metropolitan assembly election

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Committee on May 8 published its platform for the upcoming metropolitan assembly election slated for July 2.

JCP Tokyo Committee Chair Wakabayashi Yoshiharu and JCP Assembly Members’ Group Secretary General Oyama Tomoko held a press conference in the Tokyo metropolitan government office building.

Wakabayashi said that the forthcoming election will be a clash between the Liberal Democratic-Komei coalition which advocates pro-business policies prioritizing large scale public works projects and the JCP which works to fulfill Tokyo citizens’ demands and establish a people-oriented Tokyo government. Wakabayashi expressed a watchful stance regarding the mood to describe the election as a confrontation between the Governor Koike-led political force and the LDP.

Wakabayashi said that in the election campaign, the JCP will put up a fight to win voters’ support for the party’s proposal to maintain the Tsukiji market by carrying out refurbishments instead of relocating it to the contaminated Toyosu site. Wakabayashi went on to say that the party will appeal for the need to change the metropolitan assembly preference for large scale public works projects, including the construction of the Tokyo Outer Ring Road costing 100 million yen per meter, to one working to improve Tokyo citizens’ livelihoods and social welfare services. He added that the JCP will call on voters to deliver a severe verdict to the Abe government seeking to push forward with the revision of the pacifist Article 9 and the introduction of an “anti-conspiracy” law in addition to other reckless policies.

Asked about the JCP view on the Tomin First no Kai, a local political group led by Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko, Wakabayashi referred to the fact that this group agreed on electoral cooperation with the Komei Party, one of major promoters of the Tsukiji relocation project. He criticized this move as contentious and contradictory.

Past related articles:
> Shii: Tsukiji market relocation will become major focal point in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election [April 18, 2017]
> Tokyo JCP presses Gov. Koike to halt move of wholesale market to contaminated site [March 25, 2017]
> Use of small portion of Tokyo beltway construction cost will provide more care facilities for children and elderly [June 9, 2013]