All 17 JCP candidates elected in 6 local assembly elections

Japan Press Weekly

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

All 17 JCP candidates elected in 6 local assembly elections

All 17 Japanese Communist Party candidates won in regular local assembly elections in two cities and four towns on February 21.

In the Tokyo’s Hino City Assembly election, although the number of seats had been decreased by two to 24, the JCP won the same number of seats as its previous strength by receiving a record-high 16.81% of the vote and now occupies 20.83% of the city assembly seats, which is record-high.

During the election campaign, although other political parties said nothing about the city government’s policies, the JCP emphasized the need to change the city government’s fundamental policy from one promoting construction of large facilities to one improving people’s living conditions and social welfare services. This position attracted wide public support.

In this election, the Democratic Party of Japan got three seats with an increase of one while the Liberal Democratic Party decreased to three from five and the Komei Party maintained its five seats.

In another city assembly election held in Machida City, Tokyo, all 5 JCP candidates were elected. The DPJ increased its seats by one to seven, the LDP decreased by two to six, and the number of Komei’s seats remained unchanged.

The issue of this election was whether to continue large scale development projects, including construction of a new city hall costing 23 billion yen in tax money. The JCP demanded that instead of constructing a new city hall, the city government should reduce the number of children and elderly people on the waiting lists of child-care centers and long-term nursing care homes and provide free medical services for the elderly aged 75 and over and children up to 15 years old.

- Akahata, February, 23, 2010