New mayor promises residents democratic and open administration

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

New mayor promises residents democratic and open administration

A candidate supported by an association made up of the Japanese Communist Party and conservative members of the town assembly won the March 1 mayoral election in Kanmaki Town, Nara Prefecture by defeating a former town assembly chair backed by the chauvinistic special interest group called "Kaido" (Buraku Liberation League)..

The amount of Kanmaki Town's annual payment of debts reached 2.2 billion yen, almost the same amount as the residential tax. This is a consequence of haphazard and dishonest land acquisitions for large scale development projects as well as developing what Kaido calls an "assimilation district," designated as such ostensibly with the aim of eliminating discrimination against "buraku" communities.

Aiming to reconstruct the town economy, which almost collapsed and to establish democracy and transparency of the local government, the Association for Complete Reform of Kanmaki was formed in January.

The association agreed with Imanaka Tomio, a mayoral candidate, on policies of the town's economic reconstruction with citizen's participation, to invite public participation in application for town-owned apartments and town work positions, to freeze large scale projects, and to put priority on projects regarding residents' health and safety.

Imanaka attended a civic organization's meeting ten times to talk with residents. On the other hand, the rival candidate never attended the meeting although being invited.

JCP member of the town assembly Higashi Mitsuhiro said, "Imanaka intends to address each resident's demands. Former mayors never did such a thing. We want to closely consider the residents' demands that we received during the election campaign."

- Akahata, March 3, 2009