JCP secures 15 seats in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election on June 24, the Japanese Communist Party won 15 seats, losing 11 out of the 26 seats it won in the 1997 election.

The JCP put up 44 candidates total in all 42 constituencies, and received about 748,000 votes in all. Voter turnout was about 50.08%, a sharp increase from the previous election of 40.80%.

The outcome of the election for a total of 127 seats was: the Liberal Democratic Party, 53 (down 1 from the 1997 election); the Komei Party, 23 (down 1); the Democratic Party of Japan, 22 (up 10--the DPJ was founded after the 1997 election when the DPJ's predecessor parties won 12 seats); the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network, a local party based on the consumer cooperative movement, 6 (up 3); the Social Democratic Party, 0 (down 1); and the Liberal Party, 0 (0); and independents and minor parties 8 (8).

Commenting on the election result at the press conference on June 25, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo said:

Compared with the previous election, the latest election was carried out under an ambiguous political situations called the "Koizumi boom," as well as the drastic change in the composition of political parties that took place in the past four years.

We regard the extraordinarily high support rate for Koizumi as an expression of the people's strong hope for "a change in politics," a public sentiment that could be changed to sympathy with and support for the JCP if we make efforts to that extent. However, when our efforts are insufficient, the "boom" comes to mean mass support for the LDP and results in a setback for the JCP.

To our regret, despite our efforts in the election under such unusual conditions, the JCP as a whole suffered a setback. However, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election meant first of all a public judgment on the Koizumi government. This indicates all the more that the JCP must make maximum efforts for victory in the July House of Councilors election.

The Upper House election will mean a head-on battle between the JCP, which is calling for "Reforming Japan," and the Koizumi government calling for "Structural Reform."

Learning many rich lessons from our campaigning in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the JCP is resolved to make an advance in the coming House of Councilors election.

JCP Tokyo Committee issues statement on assembly election

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Standing Committee published a statement on June 25 concerning the result of the June 24 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. The JCP secured 15 seats, which is 11 seats fewer than what it won in the 1997 election.

The statement noted that the JCP received 748,085 votes, second only to the Liberal Democratic Party and that the number was the third largest the JCP ever had in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly elections. The percentage of JCP votes was 15.63%, up 1.29 points from last year's general election in Tokyo.

Analyzing the conditions surrounding the JCP in this year's election, the statement pointed out that there occurred drastic changes in political party alignments and that what was described as the 'Koizumi boom' seriously affected the JCP campaign in Tokyo.

The statement said that the dishonest campaign against the JCP by the Komei Party, now a government party, and its parent organization, 'Soka Gakkai' also seriously affected the JCP's campaigns.

Despite its efforts to expose Prime Minister Koizumi's so-called "reform" as nothing more than asking the people to endure further burdens and weakening the Japanese economy, and although the JCP called for the slashed welfare programs to be restored, the JCP was unable to make these calls known widely, the statement added. (end)