February 20, 2018

All five Japanese Communist Party candidates won in Tokyo’s Hino City Assembly election on February 18. The number of JCP seats in the assembly increased by two from its pre-election strength of three.

In the race in which 33 candidates competed for 24 seats, the five JCP candidates received 14,890 votes or 17% of the total votes cast. the second highest percentage for the party ever. Compared to figures that the JCP obtained in the proportional representation block of the 2017 House of Representatives election, the party garnered 1,500 more votes, a 6%-points increase.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan ran a candidate for the first time in a local election in Tokyo after the party’s foundation last year and secured its first seat in the assembly.

On the other hand, of eight candidates backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, two were unsuccessful. The number of the Komei Party’s seats in the assembly remains unchanged at five.

During the election campaign, the JCP criticized the city mayor’s administrative reform plan for placing heavier burdens on citizens, such as with the increase in the city’s garbage collection fee. The JCP during the election campaign expressed its strong opposition to the Abe government’s move to revise Article 9 of the Constitution.

On the day after the election, the JCP Hino City and Southern Tama District committees on February 19 jointly issued a statement concerning the election results. The statement points out that the voters gave a severe verdict to the LDP-Komei block and its supplementary force which stand behind the city mayor. It also states that the JCP will work hard to fulfill its election promises and promote citizens-opposition parties joint struggle against Abe’s anti-people policies.