Japan Press Weekly

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2011 July 27 - August 2 [POLITICS]

Whoever the prime minister is, we will stand side by disaster victims: JCP chair

Japan’s largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party along with the Komei Party are leading an outcry for Prime Minister Kan Naoto to step down in order to hold a snap general election although none of the municipalities hit by the 3/11 disaster are in a condition to hold another election.

Asked by reporters for a comment on this, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo said, “Whoever the prime minister is, our party will continue pushing forward with our work to help restore the victims’ livelihoods, reconstruct the disaster areas in a sustainable manner, and solve the nuclear power issue.”

On July 28 at a press conference in the Diet, Shii stated that the JCP does not support the Kan government policies in regard to its disaster reconstruction plans and its handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, but the party thinks that these pending issues would not be resolved even if the prime minister resigned.

“A general election is one option to look to the opinion of voters, but now is not the right time. None of the disaster areas would be ready for a snap election,” said the JCP chair.

He added that the need now is for each political party to urge the prime minister to stick to the disaster reconstruction initiatives with local input and to work to end the spread of radiation contamination.