Japan Press Weekly

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2015 December 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

50 civic groups in Kumamoto call for opposition parties’ cooperation in Upper House election

In Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, a network consisting of 50 civic groups has called on opposition parties to field a joint candidate in next summer’s Upper House election in order to work together to repeal the war legislation.

After the Abe government-sponsored security-related legislation was bulldozed through the Diet in September, 11 civil groups in the prefecture which had campaigned against the legislation formed the “Kumamoto Net” in late November calling for the abolition of the war laws and protection of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. The number of groups supporting the network has so far reached 50, which includes organizations of youth, women, parents, and environmentalists.

The Kumamoto Net held a press conference on December 5 and announced a request to opposition forces which is composed of the following three points: to revoke the Abe Cabinet’s decision to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense; to abolish the national security legislation; and to restore democracy and constitutionalism in Japan’s politics.

At the news conference, a member of an anti-war youth group, Sekine Shizuka, said, “Since the end of the Second World War, those who survived the war have raised their voices against war in order not to have their children and grandchildren have to go through the same horrible experiences. It’s time to unite our efforts to repeal the war legislation as well as put a stop to the Abe administration’s policies.”

On December 7, network representatives visited the offices of five opposition parties in the prefecture.

At the office of the Japanese Communist Party Kumamoto Prefectural Committee, they exchanged firm handshakes with the committee chair, Hidaka Shinya. Before the cameras of local TV stations, Hidaka said to the network members, “We agree with your request completely.”

The four other opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Japan, reportedly showed a positive attitude to their call.

The electoral district in Kumamoto Prefecture is one of the 32 single-seat constituencies across the country to be contested in the coming Upper House election. In the previous election held in 2013, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s candidate was elected with 60% of the total vote. In the 2010 election, the LDP candidate obtained 44% of the poll while opposition candidates garnered 54% in total.

Past related article:
> Yamashita welcomes local actions for putting up ‘unified opposition candidates’ [December 8, 2015]