JCP Ichida: New move of cooperation between unaffiliated voters and JCP

In the Amagasaki mayoral election on November 17, the new candidate backed by the Japanese Communist Party defeated the incumbent recommended by the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on November 18 commented that the result shows that cooperation between unaffiliated voters and the JCP is in progress in diverse forms, and that a new situation has arisen.

Referring to the preceding Kumamoto mayoral election with a similar outcome in which the former city assembly member candidate who left the LDP defeated the coalition candidate, Ichida said that these results reflect the rising demand, irrespective of political party affiliation, that local government heads should defend citizens from cold-blooded LDP politics.

Ichida said that unaffiliated voters are seeking cooperation with the JCP to achieve the role appropriate to local governments, and that this movement is on the rise.

The former Amagasaki mayor had promoted big development projects, with the result of burdening the citizens with debts of 200 billion yen. In the campaign, his call was simply that there should not be any JCP-backed mayor. Voters who are calling for a change of local politics, however, made the opposite choice, with more conservatives not voting for him.

Kobe Shimbun of November 18 said that the candidate jointly supported by the JCP and citizens groups defeating the LDP-Komei coalition candidate in the home constituency of Komei Party Secretary General Fuyushiba Tetsuzo was a shock to political circles, and questions about the outcome of the simultaneous local election next spring are being asked.

In the Amagasaki mayoral election, the winner got 62,000 votes, while the number of votes for the 2001 House of Councilors proportional election was 49,000 for the LDP, 47,000 for Komei, 20,000 for the Democratic Party of Japan and 22,000 for the JCP. The vote for the opponent in the mayoral election was 57,000. (end)