Japan Press Weekly

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2008 September 3 - 9 [ELECTION]

JCP wins single seat in Kyoto City by-election, beating LDP

The Japanese Communist Party won a by-election contest over a seat in the Kyoto City Assembly on September 7. JCP candidate Sano Harue received 10,441 votes (55.2 percent) and defeated the Liberal Democratic Party candidate Mukuda Takatomo, who ran in the election to succeed his father who died before completing his term. The voter turnout rate was 27.02 percent.

The JCP now has 20 seats (29.0 percent) in the assembly, is the second largest political force, next only to the LDP with 22 seats.

At the news of her victory at 10 p.m., Sano’s campaign office was filled with joy. Expressing thanks to supporters, she said, “I’m glad that the seat enables me to reflect in the assembly the voices of the majority who are suffering under LDP politics. I will do whatever I can to reduce their hardships.”

During the election campaign, senior LDP politicians who have connections with Kyoto, including former Secretary General Ibuki Bunmei and Land and Transport Minister Tanigaki Sadakazu, traveled to Kyoto to prop up the LDP campaign by putting pressure on LDP supporters to work harder for the LDP candidate while attacking the JCP.

In their campaign, Sano and the JCP told voters that they would make their best effort to abolish the medical insurance system for elderly people. Sano promised to work to reduce the national health insurance premiums and to improve the system for subsidizing medical expenses for children.