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2017 September 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

Civil Alliance calls for united opposition candidates in upcoming by-elections

The Civil Alliance in Niigata held a news conference in the Niigata prefectural government office on September 14 to publish an appeal calling on opposition parties to promote negotiations toward the realization of fielding a united candidate in the upcoming Niigata No.5 by-election.

In addition to the Niigata election slated for October 22, Aomori and Ehime prefectures also expect to hold a by-election on the same day. The Civil Alliance emphasized that the four parties in the united opposition camp (the Democratic, Japanese Communist, Liberal, and Social Democratic parties) in preparation for the three by-elections should come up with an election platform to bring down the Abe regime which intends to remove Japan’s postwar pacifist commitment from the Constitution.

All three prefectures host nuclear power stations. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has recently given a green light to the restart of operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata. Accordingly, in the Niigata No.5 constituency, as the plant is located nearby, the NPP issue will be the most important campaign issue. The Civil Alliance said that opposition candidates should stress to voters their opposition to Abe’s pro-NPP policy.

Civil Alliance members taking part in the press conference said: “I hope opposition parties will select a candidate to whom we can entrust our demand for communities without NPPs.” “Former Niigata Governor Izumida Hirohiko reportedly will announce his candidacy for the by-election, claiming that only the Liberal Democratic Party can handle the NPP issue. But, I’m sure that it will be impossible for the LDP to change the nuclear energy policy it has advocated for years.”

Past related articles:
> JCP calls on DP to hold opposition parties’ meeting to discuss electoral cooperation [September 5, 2017]
> Shii calls on new DP leader to hold talks on ways to advance opposition-citizens alliance [September 2, 2017]