Japan Press Weekly

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2015 September 2 - 8 [JCP]

JCP wins three seats in Iwate prefectural assembly election

In the Iwate Prefectural Assembly election on September 6, the Japanese Communist Party increased its number of seats from two to three for the first time. The three JCP candidates gained a total of 32,194 votes, up by more than 5,000 votes from the previous election four years ago.

In the election, 63 candidates in total in 16 constituencies contested for 48 seats in the assembly of Iwate Prefecture which has a population of 1.3 million. The voter turnout rate was 53%.

With public opposition to the government-proposed war bills mounting, the JCP made an advance by expressing clear opposition to the bills. On the other hand, votes cast for the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties decreased by 16,000 and 1,067 respectively from the last election. This will deliver a blow to the Abe government seeking to railroad the war bills through the Diet.

The JCP attracted voter support for its election pledges to promote the reconstruction from the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and implement measures to support residents’ livelihoods, such as providing free medical care for children under 16 years old.

In a 5-seat-constituency, JCP Chida Mitsuko obtained the largest number of votes at 10,767 (up by 1.8 times from the previous election) among eight candidates. Chida expressed her determination to oppose the war bills and to fulfill the JCP’s campaign promises.


Past related article:
> JCP backs antiwar-bills candidate in Iwate gubernatorial election [August 20 & 21, 2015]