JCP woman lawmaker elected assembly chair

A Japanese Communist Party woman representative was elected as chairperson of the Kunitachi City Assembly on May 16. Another woman backed by a grassroots movement was elected as vice chair.

Ozawa Yasuko, 57 years old, is the first JCP woman representative to chair a local legislature.

The election of the two women represents another change in the city headed by the progressive woman mayor, Uehara Kimiko. It is also a departure from the past practice of choosing an assembly chair from the Liberal Democratic Party, the assembly's largest political party. (end)