2 Bid to Challenge Osaka Ishin in Governor, Mayor Races

Osaka, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)--Two people declared their candidacies Wednesday for the Osaka gubernatorial and Osaka mayoral elections, both set for April 9, challenging local party Osaka Ishin no Kai.

Mayumi Taniguchi, 47, visiting associate professor at Osaka University of Arts, said that she will seek to become governor of Osaka Prefecture, while Taeko Kitano, 63, an Osaka city assembly member from the Liberal Democratic Party, said that she will run for mayor.

The two announced at a press conference in the western Japan city that they will run as independents.

They were requested to run in the elections by a local political organization that includes business leaders and former Osaka prefectural officials. The organization, called "Update Osaka," aims to form a counterforce against Osaka Ishin.

The LDP is expected to support both candidates on a voluntary basis.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]