In the mayoral election in Matsumoto City in Nagano Prefecture on March 14, a citizen-supported candidate defeated the incumbent mayor backed by the Liberal Democratic, Democratic, and Komei parties.
Sugenoya Akira, who was supported by a citizens' group established by 14 organizations, including the Japanese Communist Party, received 48,758 votes, or 48.8 percent of the total votes cast.
Sugenoya thanked voters for supporting his call for an end to wasteful public works projects and the defense of citizens' livelihoods in the fields of medical care, welfare, education and environment.
"In city politics, residents are always the key players and the administration is their assistant. I will commit myself to being the assistant and decide how to use tax money in a way that residents can agree with," said Sugenoya.
Former Mayor Aruga Tadashi had been under criticism for forcing residents to shoulder the burden of debts created by his public works-oriented policy. He was a firm opponent of the prefectural government policy of reducing the class size to under 30 in elementary schools. (end)
