Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 June 20 - 26 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Tokyo assembly rejects call for referendum on restart of NPPs

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on June 20 rejected a municipal ordinance bill to hold a referendum on the restart of operations of idled nuclear reactors located in areas to which Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) supplies power.

A citizens’ group in Tokyo in May made a direct demand to the metropolitan government to enact the ordinance with more than 320,000 signatures. The bill was turned down by the majority bloc consisting of the Liberal Democratic and the Komei parties in a plenary session of the assembly. The Japanese Communist Party, the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network, and other opposition parties supported the bill proposal.

In a discussion session in the assembly, JCP assemblywoman Oshima Yoshie criticized Governor Ishihara Shintaro for attaching to the bill proposal his written opinion arguing that whether to resume the operations of offline nuclear reactors or not should be left up to the national government to decide. She said, “It is only reasonable for Tokyo residents to be able to express their stand on the issue through referendum and demand that authorities honor the results as many residents are concerned to safeguard their lives.”

Oshima also stressed that the majority of citizens wish to break away from nuclear power generation and take steps toward turning the country to renewable energy power in line with the global trend.