Japanese Communist Party-Backed Candidate Wins Mayoral Race

Tokyo, March 30 (Jiji Press)--A candidate backed by the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party beat the incumbent in the mayoral election in the city of Kiyose in western Tokyo on Sunday.

Hiromi Harada, a 50-year-old former city assembly member, won 13,064 votes, defeating the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito-backed incumbent, Keishi Shibuya, 52, by more than 1,300 ballots.

Harada will be the fourth sitting local government head who is a member of the JCP.

Some see the result signaling support for a party that has relentlessly criticized Prime Minister Sane Takaichi's administration.

Discontent over whether to maintain local libraries eroded support for the incumbent, Harada told a press conference on Monday. "Expectations and public attention converged as criticism of the Takaichi administration intensified," she said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]