The Japanese Communist Party pushed for leadership elections to be held

A member of the Japanese Communist Party on Thursday urged the party to introduce a system for choosing the party’s leader through direct voting by its members.

At a press conference on that day, the JCP member, Nobuyuki Matsutake, questioned incumbent JCP leader Kazuo Shii, who has been in office for more than 20 years.

“I have to say this is far from the common sense of the public,” said Matsutake, whose book about the party was published the same day.