Japan Press Weekly

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2016 July 27 - August 2 [POLITICS]

4 opposition parties will continue working together in next general election

The secretaries-general of the Japanese Communist, Democratic, Social Democratic, and People’s Life parties on July 26 held a meeting in the Diet building and agreed to continue making joint efforts in the next Lower House election as much as possible.

In the meeting held to evaluate the outcomes of the effort they jointly made in the July 10 Upper House election, DP Secretary General Edano Yukio said, “I believe that the victory in 11 single-seat constituencies in the election represents a major accomplishment that the opposition alliance achieved. He also said that the DP is willing to carry on with opposition parties’ collaboration in future national elections as much as possible.”

JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira in response to Edano said, “We need to continue to work together in the House of Representatives by-election scheduled to be held in October as well as in the next general election.”

The four secretaries-general approved the choice of party affiliation by four independent Upper House members who won single-seat contests in Yamagata, Iwate, Niigata, and Okinawa districts.

Of the four, Funayama Yasue who was elected in Yamagata and Kidoguchi Eiji in Iwate will join with the DP and the PLP respectively while Niigata-elected Mori Yuko chose to remain non-affiliated. Iha Yoichi, who defeated the sitting Abe Cabinet minister in Okinawa, will form a parliamentary group called “Wind of Okinawa” with his Okinawan colleague Itokazu Keiko.

Past related article:
> 2 sitting ministers lose in Okinawa and Fukushima voting districts [July 11 & 12, 2016]