Osaka Ishin keeps governor, mayor posts in double elections

April 8, 2019

Osaka--Osaka Ishin no Kai maintained the top posts at the Osaka prefectural and city governments in Sunday's gubernatorial and mayoral elections, with its candidates defeating rivals from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japanese ruling party in national politics.

Hirofumi Yoshimura, 43, policy chief of Osaka Ishin, won the governor poll, which he joined after resigning as Osaka mayor, collecting 2,266,103 votes, against 1,254,200 votes for Tadakazu Konishi, 64, former deputy Osaka governor, who was fielded by the LDP.

Osaka Ishin leader Ichiro Matsui, 55, obtained mayoralty, garnering 660,819 votes, against 476,351 votes for LDP candidate Akira Yanagimoto, 45, a former member of the Osaka city assembly. Matsui had quit as Osaka governor to enter the race.

The victories in the gubernatorial and mayoral elections may help Osaka Ishin make progress in its so-called Osaka metropolis plan, designed to revamp administrative services by reorganizing the city of Osaka, the capital of the western prefecture of Osaka, into four special districts, pundits said.

A similar Osaka realignment plan was rejected in a local referendum held in 2015.

At a press conference on Sunday, Yoshimura said he believes that Osaka Ishin was able to gain some understanding for the metropolis plan.

Matsui said that he will work even harder, adding that he is feeling a sense of tension over his heavy responsibility.

The polls were held as part of the first round of Japan's quadrennial unified local elections.

The results, meanwhile, augur ill for the LDP ahead of by-elections for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament, in Osaka and Okinawa prefectures on April 21 and this summer's election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber.

The two candidates fielded by the LDP were recommended by the Osaka prefectural headquarters of Komeito, the coalition partner of the LDP, and supported by opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Elections for the 88-seat Osaka prefectural assembly and the 83-seat Osaka municipal assembly were held also on Sunday.

Osaka Ishin won a majority in the prefectural assembly, with 51 of its 55 candidates securing seats.

In the city assembly, the party remained the biggest force, but fell short of a majority. Of its 43 candidates, 40 won seats while three failed to do so.

However, the results marked an improvement because the party lacked a majority in both the prefectural and city assemblies before the elections.

Still, Osaka Ishin needs to secure cooperation from other parties in the city assembly in order to achieve progress with the metropolis plan.

To hold a prefectural referendum on the metropolis plan, support from a majority of members of both the prefectural and city assemblies is required. Jiji Press