Tokyo voters punish Japan ruling party ahead of national election
TOKYO: Voters in Tokyo decisively knocked Japan's ruling party from its position as the largest group in the city assembly, results showed on Monday (Jun 23), a warning sign for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's unpopular government before July elections.
Japanese media said it was a record-low result in the key local election for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has led the country almost continuously since 1955.
Public support for Ishiba, who took office in October, has been at rock-bottom for months, partly because of high inflation, with rice prices doubling over the past year.
The LDP took 21 Tokyo assembly seats in Sunday's vote, including three won by candidates previously affiliated with the party but not officially endorsed following a political funding scandal.
This breaks the party's previous record low of 23 seats from 2017, according to the Asahi Shimbun and other local media.
Tomin First no Kai, founded by Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, increased its seats in the 127-member assembly to 31, becoming the largest party.
"This was a very tough election," Shinji Inoue, head of the LDP's Tokyo chapter, said Sunday as exit polls showed a decline in the party's seats.
The funding scandal "may have affected" the result, while policies to address inflation "didn't reach voters' ears very well" with opposition parties also pledging to tackle the issue, Inoue said.
Within weeks Ishiba will face elections for parliament's upper house, with reports saying the national ballot could be held on Jul 20.
COST OF LIVING
Voters angry with rising prices and political scandals deprived the 68-year-old's ruling coalition of a majority in the powerful lower house in October, its worst general election result in 15 years.
Polls this month showed a slight uptick in support, however, thanks in part to policies to tackle high rice prices.
Several factors lie behind recent shortages of rice at Japanese shops, including an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide, and panic-buying after a "mega-quake" warning last year.
Over this time some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say.
Not including volatile fresh food, goods and energy in Japan were 3.7 per cent higher in May than a year earlier.
To help households combat the cost of living, Ishiba has pledged cash handouts of 20,000 yen (US$139) for every citizen ahead of the upper house election.
The opposition Democratic Party For the People (DPP) won seats for the first time in the Tokyo assembly vote, securing nine.
The DPP's campaign pledge for the July election includes sales tax cuts to boost household incomes.
Sunday's voter turnout rate was 47.6 per cent, compared to the 42.4 per cent four years ago, according to local media.
A record 295 candidates ran – the highest since 1997, including 99 women candidates, also a record high.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Trust and understanding in Singapore-China relationship 'cannot be taken for granted': Lawrence Wong
SINGAPORE: The relationship between Singapore and China has continued to deepen and grow because it is a partnership built on a 'deep level of mutual respect, trust and understanding', said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at his meeting with Chinese premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People on Monday afternoon (Jun 23). 'This deep level of trust and understanding cannot be taken for granted. It has to be cultivated, nurtured year after year, generation after generation,' said Mr Wong, adding that his team is 'fully committed' to strengthening their interactions and exchanges with their counterparts in China. This is Mr Wong's first visit to China as Singapore's prime minister, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China. The current international landscape is marked by intertwined turbulence and changes, with increasing uncertainty and instability, said the Chinese premier during the meeting, adding that it is especially vital for China and Singapore to strengthen cooperation and exchanges. 'The Chinese side is willing to work together with the Singaporean side, in light of the new changes in the situation, with a view to safeguarding our shared interests, upholding the fine tradition of mutual respect, mutual trust, equality, and win-win cooperation, and advancing bilateral relations and collaboration to bear even more fruitful outcomes,' said Mr Li. On Monday, Mr Wong was welcomed at the Great Hall of the People, and will attend a dinner banquet hosted by Mr Li. The two last met in October 2024 on the sidelines of multilateral meetings. On this trip, Mr Wong will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chairman of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji.
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
PM Lawrence Wong meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang
Scroll up for the next video X PM Lawrence Wong meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
South Korea gets first civilian defence minister in 60 years
SEOUL: South Korea's government on Monday (Jun 23) appointed the country's first civilian defence minister in more than 60 years, after growing calls for stronger oversight of the military. It comes after a failed martial law attempt in December that led to the impeachment of ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol. Veteran lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back is "the first civilian to lead the ministry in 64 years", said presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik at a news conference on Monday. "He is expected to push reforms in the military, particularly in response to its involvement in the martial law," he added. During his election campaign, President Lee Jae Myung had promised to appoint a defence minister from the "civilian circle", responding to widespread public calls for control of the military in the wake of the martial law crisis. South Korea's former president Yoon was impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his Dec 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament. Kim Yong-hyun, who served as defence minister under Yoon, has been under arrest since December and is currently on trial for insurrection, accused of recommending martial law to the former president and drafting the decree. Previous liberal administrations have attempted to appoint a "civilian" defence minister, but have failed to do so, many citing the growing threat of North Korea's nuclear programme. Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated under the hardline administration of the hawkish ex-president. They technically remain at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Lee has vowed to improve relations with the North and reduce tensions on the peninsula, halting the loudspeaker broadcasts Seoul had begun last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang. In response, a day after, North Korea stopped broadcasting strange and unsettling noises along the border which the ministry hailed as "a meaningful opportunity to ease inter-Korean military tensions and restore mutual trust".
