 JCP dashes on New Year's Day for key local elections Firmly determined to achieve a victory in a series of local assembly elections to take place during this year, the Japanese Communist Party began its publicity campaign and dialogues with voters on New Year's Day. The Kitakyushu City Assembly election (south-western Japan) is set for January 30 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election will be held in June. The results of these elections are widely seen as crucial for the next parliamentary elections. Tokyo In the western Tokyo city of Hachioji, JCP member of the city assembly Shimizu Hideko took a microphone at the entrance to a local shrine on January 1 to make JCP policies and achievements known to people making their first visits of the New Year. She criticized Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro for abandoning welfare services and disregarding the Constitution, stressing, "JCP seats in the assembly are important for safeguarding residents' livelihoods, business, welfare, and medical services." The JCP maintains 15 seats in the 127-member Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. All parties but the JCP have supported Governor Ishihara Shintaro's welfare cuts. A JCP advance in the election is no doubt needed for stopping such an adverse trend. Kitakyushu With the official announcement of the election expected on January 21, JCP candidates from New Year's Eve through January 1 spoke to visitors to a local shrine calling for a change in municipal policies to give priority to improving residents' livelihoods. In the 64-member Kitakyushu City Assembly the JCP holds 10 seats. All parties but the JCP have supported wasteful large-scale public works projects. Only the JCP has made efforts to realize citizens' demands, including increasing the subsidy for infants' medical expenses and decreasing the nursing care insurance premiums for elderly people. (end) |