 Fukuoka and Miyagi by-election campaigns start Major political parties on April 12 began campaigning for the April 24 House of Representatives by-elections in Miyagi and Fukuoka prefectures. In Fukuoka City, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo campaigned for Yamada Hirotoshi, a JCP candidate in the Fukuoka No.2 constituency. He stressed that the main issues of the elections are the consumption tax increase and revision of the Constitution. "A vote for the JCP will be the most effective way to stop the tax increase and constitutional revision," He said. In Miyagi's Sendai City, JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi joined the JCP candidate in the Miyagi No.2 constituency, Goto Taira. Ichida stated that the Democratic Party of Japan cannot defend the people's living conditions and peace because it has declared that it is not anti-Liberal Democratic Party. He said, "A JCP advance will block their attempt to create a two-party system." Those two Lower House seats became vacant following the resignation of DPJ members. Koga Jun'ichiro, elected from Fukuoka, resigned from the Diet after admitting that he lied about his academic record. Kamata Sayuri from Miyagi quit after her campaigner was found guilty of violating the Public Offices Election Law. (Akahata April 13, 2005) |