October 1, 2021

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Edano Yukio on September 30 at a meeting in the Diet building reached an agreement on the two parties’ cooperation.

The contents of the agreement are as follows:

- realize the replacement of the Liberal Democratic-Komei government with a new one in the approaching House of Representatives general election;
- the JCP and the CDPJ will work together in a new government for the steady advancement of a common policy agenda agreed upon with the Civil Alliance. In this regard, the JCP will cooperate with the new government from outside the Cabinet in order to implement policies listed in the agreed-upon agenda; and
- in the forthcoming election, the two parties will work for victory in single-seat constituencies where they agreed to field a joint candidate, with mutual respect for and understanding of each other’s differences.

The next general election will be the first election for the JCP to fight under such a cooperation agreement. JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira and his CDPJ counterpart Fukuyama Tetsuro also attended the meeting.

At a press conference after the meeting, Shii said that he welcomed the agreement concluded with the CDPJ. He cited that since the national coalition government proposal in 2015, the JCP has appealed for the need to establish a government through the cooperation between opposition parties and concerned citizens. He said that the latest agreement is a major step in achieving this goal, and added, “In particular, it is very significant that the two parties reached a consensus in regard to their collaboration in a people-oriented government.”

Shii expressed his determination to forge ahead by saying, “Using today’s agreement as leverage, the JCP will work hard jointly with the CDPJ to realize a change of government with the victory in the general election.”

Past related article:
> 4 opposition parties along with Civil Alliance agree on common agenda [September 9, 2021]