Japan Press Weekly

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2017 December 20 - 2018 January 9 [JCP]

JCP candidate wins Higashikurume City Assembly by-election

Japanese Communist Party candidate Kitamura Ryuta won the by-election of Tokyo’s Higashikurume City Assembly on December 24, following last week’s JCP victory in the Ageo City Assembly by-election (Saitama Prefecture).

The 30-year-old candidate garnered over 12,400 votes or 36% of the total vote. Another successful candidate was endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party in the three-person race. The remaining candidate had backing from Tomin First no Kai, a political party established by Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko, but he failed to reach the victory line.

In the election campaign, Kitamura pledged to have residents’ opinions fully reflected in the city administration, which attracted support from a wide range of voters. He criticized the mayor and the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties for seeking to close all public childcare centers in the city. Kitamura promised to work to lower garbage-collection fees and start a community bus service. Concerning national politics, he expressed his determination to oppose the Abe government’s attempt to revise Article 9 of the Constitution.

The city mayoral election also took place on the same day. Sakuragi Yoshio, who was backed by the JCP and other parties, nearly beat the incumbent mayor. Sakuragi obtained slightly more than 16,500 votes, only 2,340 votes less than the re-elected mayor.

Past related article:
> JCP candidate wins Ageo City Assembly by-election handsdown [December 19, 2017]