Japan Press Weekly

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2016 February 17 - 23 [POLITICS]

JCP and DPJ in Hokkaido will field joint candidate in Lower House by-election

The Japanese Communist and Democratic parties in Hokkaido on February 19 signed an agreement to field a joint candidate for an upcoming by-election of the House of Representatives which will be the first national election after the Abe government forcibly enacted the war legislation.

Supported by a citizen’s organization calling for the abolition of the war laws, Ikeda Maki was chosen by the two parties to run from the Hokkaido No.5 constituency in the by-election slated for April. In the election, Ikeda, also backed by the Japan Innovation and Social Democratic parties, will reportedly battle head-on with a Liberal Democratic Party candidate.

The JCP-DPJ agreement states that their joint candidate will take the position of working to abolish the war legislation and restore constitutionalism and democracy and maintain this position while in office if elected.

At a signing ceremony held in Sapporo City on the same day, lawyer and former Sapporo City mayor Ueda Fumio on behalf of the citizens’ organization underscored the significance of the agreement, saying, “The JCP and the DPJ responded to the citizens’ call and made the much needed decision to cooperate.”

Joint candidate Ikeda also attended the ceremony and said that Japan should not be turned into a war-fighting nation and that she will do her utmost to achieve victory in the Lower House election.

At the ceremony, the JCP announced that its candidate, Hashimoto Mika, will withdraw from the April race. Hashimoto expressed her determination to work for the joint candidate’s victory.