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2024 July 10 - 16 TOP3 [POLITICS]

JCP Secretariat Head Koike refutes claim that ‘Renho lost votes because of JCP’

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on July 11 criticized the president of a major pro-business union group for blaming the JCP for Renho’s failure to win in the Tokyo gubernatorial election.

Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC/Rengo) President Yoshino Tomoko earlier on the same day said that because the JCP often appeared in public in support of her candidacy, potential voters for Renho may have decided not to vote for her. Yoshino suggested the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan review its cooperation with the JCP.

JCP Koike at a press conference in the Diet building said, “I cannot overlook her comments. What is the basis for saying that votes were lost because of the JCP endorsement? I’d like Yoshino to show us the basis for making this claim.”

According to JCP Koike, Tezuka Yoshio, secretary general of the CDPJ Tokyo metropolitan chapter who led Renho’s campaign, immediately after the election said, “I have nothing but gratitude for the JCP volunteers,” and Nagatsuma Akira who chairs the CDPJ Tokyo metropolitan chapter stated in response to Yoshino’s statement, “That is not my view” (July 11). In addition, CDPJ Secretary General Okada Katsuya said that he did not think that working with the JCP “dragged Renho down” (July 9).

Renho herself said at a press conference on the ballot-counting day, “It is an asset to me to have had the help of so many people, including JCP volunteers.”

JCP Koike noted that a campaigner from the Civil Alliance posted on her X account, “Most of Renho’s supporting orators were CDPJ Dietmembers and CDPJ Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblypersons. JCP volunteers mainly handed out Renho’s campaign flyers.” He emphasized, “It wasn’t a campaign where ‘the JCP appeared in public too much and the votes ran away’.”