Kenji Utsunomiya (third from left) giving a speech at the first meeting of the Candidate Selection Committee
Ahead of the Tokyo gubernatorial election (announced on June 20, votes to be counted on July 7), representatives of citizen groups and opposition parties aiming to field a unified opposition candidate held the first meeting of the selection committee in Tokyo on the 8th. . They confirmed their policy to proceed with the selection of candidates within the framework of joint opposition parties.
Those calling for the initiative included lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, who was the runner-up in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election, and former Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kihei Maekawa. At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Utsunomiya said, “The people and citizens are increasingly distrusting politics due to the issue of slush funds between factions of the Liberal Democratic Party.I want citizens and the opposition parties to work together to push out a strong candidate.”
◆Approximately 10 people will be named for consideration.
The meeting was closed to the public, with members of the Diet from opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Communist Party, as well as members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in attendance. According to Ritsumeikan member of the House of Representatives Nio Tezuka, who responded to an interview after the meeting, about 10 names were put up for consideration, and some said that “a female candidate would be better.”
Governor Yuriko Koike, currently in her second term, has not made clear her stance on the next gubernatorial election. Tezuka said, “Realistically, the premise is that Governor Koike will run for a third term.I hope we can make a decision as soon as possible while also looking at other election dates, such as the House of Representatives by-election in April.” (Chitomo Miyake)
2024-02-08 09:39:38
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