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2015/04/03
Okada and Edano hold opening rallies of Unified Local Election campaign
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On April 3 was the opening day of the first part of the official campaign to elect the assembly members of 41 prefectures and 17 ordinance designated cities. DPJ President Katsuya Okada and Secretary General Yukio Edano spoke at election rallies held to support DPJ candidates.
Okada, speaking in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, expressed grave concern about the Abe administration’s proposed security legislation revisions, stating, “We [Japanese] should have more a sense of crisis regarding the fact that one of the main principles of our Constitution, that Japan does not exercise the use of force overseas, is now about to be changed without discussion. If the LDP wins the Unified Local Elections, although these are only local elections, Prime Minister Abe would say that he has obtained a mandate from the public. Then, the ruling coalition would submit the security legislation to the Diet and try to have it passed in a short period of time.” He called on voters to “take this into account” when deciding whom to vote for.
Edano, at a rally in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, criticized the government, saying, “It seems to me that the Abe administration only cares about the strong, big business, those lucky to have permanent employment and so on. But the truth is that irrespective of rises in stock prices or salaries of permanent employees, there are lots of people finding it difficult to make ends meet.” He appealed to his audience, saying, “Isn’t it the role of politics to extend a helping hand to those facing trouble in their daily lives? Politics and public administration must be as reliable as they’re supposed to be when people are in trouble. The DPJ will keep on playing such a role.”
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