Japan Press Weekly

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2020 July 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

Shii comments on Tokyo gubernatorial election results

In the Tokyo gubernatorial election on July 5, candidate Utsunomiya Kenji, who was backed by opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party along with concerned citizens, obtained more than 840,000 votes while incumbent Governor Koike Yuriko won reelection with about 3.66 million votes.

On election night, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo issued his comment on the election results.

At the beginning of his comment, Shii praised Utsunomiya’s valiant fight and thanked all Tokyoites who voted for him, and said that every promise which Utsunomiya made in the election campaign not only met Tokyo citizens’ earnest demands but also indicated a progressive future course for the Tokyo government to take.

As the top issue in his campaign platform, Utsunomiya vowed to drastically improve Tokyo’s COVID-19 testing capacity and healthcare system and to provide full financial support in order to protect people’s lives and livelihoods from the ongoing corona crisis. In addition, he promised to cancel the planned corporatization of public hospitals and withdraw from the promotion of casino development.

Shii said that the JCP will work hard to fulfill these promises in collaboration with a wide range of citizens’ grass-roots movements.

Shii pointed out that in the gubernatorial race, opposition parties and concerned citizens have developed their joint struggle. Stressing, “The JCP, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, the New Socialist Party of Japan, and a Tokyo local political party united with a broad range of people to fight for Utsunomiya’s victory,” Shii said that this experience contributed to strengthening solidarity and trust in the citizens-opposition parties joint struggle, which is a significant achievement. He expressed his determination to further develop the citizens/opposition parties collaboration in preparation for the next general election.

Past related article:
> Tokyo gubernatorial race putting coronavirus at top of agenda officially starts [June 19, 2020]