Japan Press Weekly

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2020 March 25 - 31 [POLITICS]

Civil Alliance requests opposition parties for quick-impact anti-corona measures

The Civil Alliance on March 25 made a request to the secretaries-general of five opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, to take quick-impact countermeasures against the spread of COVID-19.

The Civil Alliance, which normally works to abolish the so-called war laws and restore constitutionalism, criticized the Abe government for having created confusion among school administrators, parents, and communities due to "ill-prepared" nationwide school closures. The civic organization requested that the opposition parties strive to implement measures to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further; improve systems to handle medical emergencies; provide special social support and employment measures; and adopt an emergency economic package.

JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira in the Diet building met with representatives of the organization. Pointing to the increase in the number of infected people whose infection source is unknown, Koike said, "The possibility of an overshoot of coronavirus infections can no longer be denied," adding, "We totally agree with your request and will work together with you to realize them."

Koike pointed out that about 230,000 people who returned from abroad or had contact with infected people have sought advice from health consultation centers, and that 4% of them went to see doctors and only 3% of the 230,000 received PCR tests. He condemned the government policy of promoting the streamlining of public medical institutions which were supposed to play a key role in handling COVID-19, stressing, "It is necessary to rethink what form Japan's politics and society should take."

Hosei University Professor Yamaguchi Jiro, a representative of the Civil Alliance, said in response, "As you have just said, what the nation should be like is now being called into question. We will include a policy of creating a crisis-resistant Japan in our policy proposals in the next general election."