Take election result earnestly

By Manabu Hayasaka / Yomiuri Shimbun City News Editor

12:58 JST, July 5, 2021

The curtain has come down on a winner-less battle for the capital.

The Liberal Democratic Party increased its seats in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, but comparatively this does not constitute a victory, given that it came after its historic rout in the previous election and leaves it still far from the number it won in the election before that.

The Tomin First no Kai, which became the top party in the assembly four years ago by riding the whirlwind surrounding Gov. Yuriko Koike, lost a large number of seats. Although the party looked to be making a push in the latter stage of the campaigns, voters surely saw it as lacking on-the-ground activities as a political party.

The clear dividing point between the parties during the campaign was their stance regarding the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Japanese Communist Party’s call to cancel the Games received a certain measure of support. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s declaration that holding events without spectators was a possibility was a bid to attract voters who are against holding the Games, but it proved unsuccessful.

It seems obvious that the LDP’s poor showing reflects deep-rooted dissatisfaction with its policies on such hot-button issues as containing the coronavirus and hosting the Olympics.

The will of the people expressed by Tokyo voters should be seen as the voice of the majority of all Japanese citizens. Will holding the Olympics during a pandemic lead to a surge in infections? The Suga administration must take the election results earnestly.