Japan Press Weekly

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2017 October 4 - 10 [POLITICS]

Civil Alliance and new constitutional party confirm common election platform

A delegation of the Civil Alliance on October 3 met with the newly-established Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Edano Yukio at the Lower House members’ office building and they confirmed a 7-point election platform.

The civil organization asked Edano to unite with other opposition parties working to defend constitutionalism and democracy in the general election slated for October 22.

The seven items listed on the platform include opposition to Abe’s plan to revise Article 9 of the Constitution, abolition of the unconstitutional national security laws and anti-conspiracy laws, and objection to restarting offline nuclear power plants without determining the underlying cause of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns.

In the meeting with Edano, Civil Alliance member and Hosei University Professor Yamaguchi Jiro said, “We hope that in the coming election your party will work together with other opposition parties and concerned citizens across Japan who share common goals.”

Edano in response cited the fact that the Democratic Party supported the Civil Alliance’s request for unity when he was in the party. He said, “After launching my party, I took concerned citizens’ demands to heart more seriously than before. I’ll do my utmost to meet the demands.”

After the meeting, Yamaguchi said to reporters, “The Civil Alliance will firmly support Edano’s party, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Social Democratic Party in the general election.”

In late September, the Civil Alliance and the four opposition parties (the DP, JCP, SDP, and the Liberal Party) separately confirmed the same 7-point election platform.

Past related article:
> Civil Alliance confirms common election agenda in preparation for selecting united opposition candidates [September 22, 2017]