30 Enter Central Japan Assembly Race over Controversial Mayor

Ito, Shizuoka Pref., Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)–Thirty people filed their candidacies Sunday in the Oct. 19 election for the Ito municipal assembly in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, which was dissolved by controversial Mayor Maki Takubo. Takubo dissolved the assembly in September in response to the passage of a no-confidence motion against her over her alleged falsification of academic record. The focus of the election is whether to submit another no-confidence motion. Of the 30 candidates competing for the assembly’s 20 seats, 26 support such a motion, one is opposed, and the remaining three have not disclosed their positions, according to a joint survey by media outlets. If the assembly passes a fresh no-confidence motion in its first assembly session since the election that will be convened Oct. 31, Takubo will lose her post of mayor under the local autonomy law. To pass the measure, at least two-thirds of the assembly’s members must be present and a majority of those present must approve it. Takubo needs at least seven assembly members who support her in order to remain mayor. Takubo initially claimed to have graduated from Toyo University, but she announced in July that she had been expelled from the institution. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]