Japan Press Weekly

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2016 June 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

Basic agreement on TPP separates farmers from LDP

An increasing number of agricultural organizations which used to support the Liberal Democratic Party in elections have changed their allegiance due to the LDP’s basic policy on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade framework.

In the Tohoku region where the agricultural sector traditionally occupies a vital position in local economies, local agricultural co-operatives have decided not to support LDP candidates in the forthcoming election. As a major reason, they cited the basic agreement on the multinational free trade framework that the Abe government concluded in October 2015.

In Miyagi Prefecture, a prefectural group of Japan Agricultural Co-operatives recently announced that it will not encourage its member farmers to vote for LDP candidates in this summer’s election. In the previous Upper House election, the organization endorsed candidates of the LDP and the Democratic Party.

As a reason for this announcement, the prefectural group explained that although Prime Minister Abe insisted that the TPP agreement adheres a Diet resolution calling for excluding five key items from the negotiations, farmers are questioning this claim.

A local agricultural co-operative in Aomori Prefecture said that considering the feelings of farmers about the agreement, it is difficult for the organization to give an endorsement to LDP candidates.

In addition to these farmers’ groups, local co-operatives in Akita, Iwate, and Yamagata prefectures also stopped their support for LDP candidates.

Past related articles:
> Abe gov’t puts forth TPP-related bills [March 9, 2016]
> Japan Agricultural Cooperatives: basic agreement on TPP is regrettable [October 7, 2015]