March 1, 2022

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Izumi Kenta on February 27 at the party’s annual convention expressed his intent to promote discussions on the fielding of joint opposition candidates in single-seat constituencies in the July Upper House election.

Furthermore, after the convention, in response to questions from the press, he indicated his willingness to have a in-depth discussion with the Japanese Communist Party on this matter.

On the following day at a press conference in the Diet building, JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira said, “The CDPJ leader’s remarks are very important.”

Koike explained the JCP’s position regarding the coming House of Councilors election, which is to nominate as many joint candidates as possible in single-member constituencies in order to deliver a severe verdict to the Kishida administration. He added that in the Upper House election, the JCP will also work hard to prevent the forming of an “all-are-ruling-party” structure by the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, and the Nippon Ishin no Kai party.

In addition, Koike referred to a 20-item common policy agenda that was agreed upon by the Civil Alliance together with four opposition parties and a JCP-CDPJ agreement on the forming of a coalition government. He stressed that the JCP will respect these agreements as they were made as a campaign pledge in the 2021 general election. He added that the JCP will include these agreements in themes to be discussed with the CDPJ.