Party Bigwigs Dispatched to Make Last-Ditch Appeals; Ishiba, Noda Give Street Speeches in Battleground Constituencies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, October 26, 2024

As the campaign period goes into its final stretch, political parties sent their bigwigs to battleground constituencies Friday in a last-ditch attempt to secure votes for Sunday’s House of Representatives election.

The ruling parties emphasized their ability to hold the reins of government, while the opposition parties condemned them for the politics and money scandals which have embroiled the Liberal Democratic Party.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday held his first ministerial meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss improving the treatment of Self-Defense Force personnel, which is a key policy of his administration. He instructed the relevant ministries to include related measures in the draft budget for the next fiscal year.

“We will fully construct a system for the SDFs to devote themselves to their vital mission of national defense with pride and honor,” Ishiba said.

Ishiba has mentioned his SDF policy during campaign speeches, and it seems he aimed to display his ability to implement it by holding the inaugural meeting at the final phase of the campaign.

That afternoon, Ishiba flew to Aomori Prefecture by chartered plane and gave street speeches mainly at close-run constituencies in Aomori and Akita prefectures in hopes of increasing the LDP’s seat count.

Facing a tough election situation, Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii spoke on the street Friday morning in his own constituency, Soka in Saitama Prefecture. “The experienced and proven LDP-Komeito coalition is the only administration that can run the government stably,” he shouted, gripping the microphone.

A Yomiuri Shimbun election survey conducted in the final campaign stages saw the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan likely gaining a significant number of seats.

CDPJ President Yoshihiko Noda said at a street rally in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, “This is a crucial moment that will decide whether or not the LDP and Komeito fall below the majority.

“People who have been involved in creating slush funds cannot decide how tax money is used. We will put an end to LDP politics.”

During the day, Noda worked to shore up support for the party in close-run constituencies in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures.

Also on Friday, Nobuyuki Baba, who leads the Japan Innovation Party, which is struggling across the country, sought a wellspring of support in the battleground constituencies of its strongholds, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures. Baba criticized the LDP in Kobe in the morning, saying, “The LDP has not reflected on the politics and money issue at all.”

Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura took to the streets Friday to give speeches in Nagano Prefecture and Tokyo’s urban areas. Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki campaigned in Miyagi, Akita and Yamagata prefectures.

Reiwa Shinsengumi, the Social Democratic Party and Sanseito also called for support in street speeches.