998 JCP members elected in second round nationwide local elections

2019 April 17 - 23 [JCP]

998 JCP members elected in second round nationwide local elections

April 23, 2019

In the second round of the simultaneous nationwide local elections held on April 21, the Japanese Communist Party won 998 seats, down 91 from the last election four years ago.

Compared with the previous local elections, the JCP decreased its number of seats by 21 in Tokyo ward assembly elections, 55 in city assembly elections, and 14 in town and village assembly elections across the country. The JCP’s share of seats in Tokyo ward assemblies went down from 15.80% to 13.12%. The figure in city assemblies and town and village assemblies fell from 9.70% to 9.15% and from 6.86% to 6.65%, respectively.

On the other hand, in assembly elections in some prefectural capitals, the JCP gained additional seats. In the assembly election in Akita’s capital city, all four JCP candidates were elected and the number of JCP seats thus doubled. In Tochigi and Gifu prefectures, the JCP succeeded in increasing its number of seats by one to three in assembly elections in the prefectural capitals of Utsunomiya and Gifu.

Furthermore, in nine prefectures, including Kochi, Iwate, Fukushima, and Okayama, all JCP candidates won seats in assembly elections at the city, town, and village levels. In Kochi, for example, seven JCP candidates won in the assembly election in the prefectural capital of Kochi City. In addition, in the Sukumo City assembly election, the JCP obtained one seat and established its presence in the assembly. In assembly elections in four towns and one village, all six JCP candidates secured seats.

While restoring the JCP presence in 23 local assemblies for the first time in four years, the party failed to maintain its seats in 25 local assemblies in the latest elections.

The share of JCP votes in Tokyo ward assembly elections increased to 12.0% from the 10.2% which the JCP got in proportional representation part of the 2017 general election. The percentage of the vote that the party obtained in city assembly elections and in other municipal assembly elections also increased to 8.4% from 7.8% and to 8.3% from 7.5%, respectively.