Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 8 - 14 [JCP]

As a result of first half of local elections, JCP establishes its presence in all prefectural assemblies

As a result of the first half of simultaneous nationwide local elections on April 12, the Japanese Communist Party won 111 seats in 41 prefectural assemblies, including seven assemblies without a JCP presence, up 31 seats from the previous elections, achieving its goal to establish the JCP presence in all the 47 prefectural assemblies for the first time in party history.

In the assembly elections in 17 major cities held on the same day, the JCP also gained 136 seats, up by 29 seats compared to the previous elections in 2011.

Of 385 female winners in the first-half round, 118 of them, or 30 percent, are JCP members, the largest number of all political parties.

Among the major political parties, the JCP took the lead in the number of seats added to the pre-election strength in both prefectural and major city assemblies.

The Liberal Democratic Party decreased its pre-election strength by 43 to 1,153 in the prefectural assembly elections and by 7 to 301 in the major city assembly elections.

The Komei Party maintained the same number of seats in the prefectural assembly elections while losing one seat in the major city assembly elections.

Regarding the local elections as a “key for revitalization”, the Democratic Party of Japan made its utmost efforts in the election campaigns but suffered a drastic decline in the elections across Japan, in particular, in Osaka. In the Osaka City Assembly election, all 11 DPJ candidates were defeated and in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly election, only one of nine DPJ candidates secured a seat. The total number of DPJ seats in 41 prefectural assemblies fell by 12 and in 17 major city assemblies by 20 compared to its pre-election strength.

The Japan Innovation Party captured additional seats.