April 5, 2022

Japanese Communist Party candidate Fujimoto Iseko won in the city assembly by-election held on April 3 in the suburban Tokyo city of Kiyose. The JCP became the largest political party by adding another seat to the pre-election strength of five, accounting for 30% of the 20-member city assembly.

The JCP city assemblymembers’ group, as a result of the 2019 regular assembly election in which the party gained five seats, is entitled to convene the assembly.

Contesting two vacant seats, along with Fujimoto, two Liberal Democratic Party candidates ran in the by-election. Fujimoto received 7,036 votes (26.74% of total vote cast), defeating the runner-up candidate by a 98-vote margin.

In the election campaign, Fujimoto worked hard to attract voters’ support with her promise to block the LDP/Komei-backed city mayor’s move to cut the number of public elementary schools. She also appealed to voters on the importance of realizing politics that will work for peace by utilizing Article 9 of the Constitution. In addition, Fujimoto, who is a retired teacher, obtained cooperation from independent assemblymembers and various citizens, including Fujimoto’s former students.

Despite the low voter turnout of 39.37%, the JCP increased its number of votes and the voting rate in the latest election compared with the 2019 city assembly election in which the party secured 6,008 votes (19.07% of total vote cast) and the 2021 general election in which the party obtained 5,677 votes (15.70% of the total vote cast).

In the mayoral election held on the same day, opposition candidate Ikeda Izumi with support from the JCP, the Social Democratic Party, and a local political party received 8,062 votes, but failed to defeat her rival endorsed by the LDP and the Komei party.