Forces of democracy increased in Tokushima

In the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly election on April 13, the Japanese Communist Party doubled its seats to four.

In the Anan City constituency, a JCP candidate defeated an incumbent Liberal Democratic Party candidate with the largest number of votes the JCP had ever received. The JCP gained a new seat in the Itano Town constituency and defended its two seats in the Tokushima City constituency.

In Tokushima Prefecture, a gubernatorial election will take place in May because the opposition forces in the prefectural assembly used their majority in February to force through a non-confidence motion against JCP-supported Governor Ota Tadashi.

In the April 13 election, pro-former governor assembly members increased by six to 15 and the anti-governor forces decreased its seats by seven to 26.

Ota had struggled with the assembly's majority opposition force over his policies to investigate into the graft scandal of his predecessor and to reconsider the large development public projects, including the plans to construct the Yoshino River dam and Tokushima airport. (end)