JCP wants to maintain coalition with CDPJ

The Yomiuri Shimbun

November 3, 2021

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) expressed its intention to continue cooperation with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan even after the resignation of CDPJ leader Yukio Edano.

The outcome “is very regrettable after toiling together on common policies and consolidated support [of single candidates],” JCP Secretariat head Akira Koike said. “We hope to further develop our cooperation and coalition with the CDPJ,” he said.

Taro Yamamoto, who leads the Reiwa Shinsengumi party, said, “I want to discuss with a new CDPJ leader how the coalition should work toward [next year’s] House of Councillors election.”

Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said, “We’ll walk together with the CDPJ no matter who becomes the party’s leader.”

However, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), a major supporter of the CDPJ, has criticized the opposition coalition for Sunday’s House of Representatives election.

“It was a hard election for us to fight,” Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino said. “We can’t accept fighting alongside the JCP.”

Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki said, “In the lower house election, there were many difficulties in cooperation.

“We want to keep a close eye on the CDPJ’s relationship with the JCP and its basic policies on foreign affairs, security and energy.”