Japan Press Weekly

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2024 August 21 - 27 [POLITICS]

Koike criticizes media coverage regarding opposition parties’ joint struggle in last general election as being incorrect

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on August 26 said that media reporting, as though an agreement in the 2021 general election between the JCP and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on “limited non-cabinet cooperation” was a failure, is factually incorrect.

Koike made this remark in regard to news coverage dealing with the CDPJ leadership election.

Koike stressed that the 2021 general election was the first election in which opposition parties entered their election campaigns after reaching an agreement on common policies, cooperation in a new government, and electoral collaboration. At the same time, Koike pointed out, in this election, with a possibility of the JCP’s cooperation in a new government emerging, the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei coalition and its supplementary force desperately made unjust attacks on opposition parties’ joint struggle and the JCP.

Koike stressed, “Despite such attacks, the unified struggle of opposition parties and concerned citizens achieved significant results,” bringing about victories of joint opposition candidates in 59 single-seat constituencies against LDP candidates including the party’s heavyweights. He said, “This indicates that opposition parties’ failure to field joint candidates could have resulted in the LDP’s landslide victory. If opposition parties’ joint struggle had been more powerful, it would have brought about a totally different outcome.”

Koike pointed out that the experiences of the opposition parties’ joint struggle in the last general election made it clear issues needed to be resolved in a positive manner. He said that in particular, the opposition parties were unable to overcome the various attacks and convey enough to a wide range of people the appeal of a new government created by opposition parties’ unified efforts.

Stating that the opposition parties and concerned citizens collaboration is still in the development stage, Koike said, “Unified struggle of opposition parties and concerned citizens is the only way to realize a change in government. The JCP will sincerely keep agreements and promises which the party previously made with other opposition parties and will continue to work hard to further develop the opposition parties’ joint struggle. In order to achieve this, the JCP’s advance is important.”