Osaka Governor, Mayor to Face Elections over Metropolis Plan

Osaka, Jan. 15 (Jiji Press)–Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama announced Thursday their intention to tender their resignations the following day and run in subsequent elections, in a bid to realize the so-called Osaka metropolis plan for local government realignment. They will position the gubernatorial and mayoral races in the western Japan prefecture as a plebiscite to seek public approval for the metropolis plan, a signature policy of the Japan Innovation Party, which is led by Yoshimura. The elections are expected to be held on the same day as a possible general election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan’s parliament, whose voting date is widely believed to be set for Feb. 8. “I want to run in a double election with Mayor Yokoyama,” Yoshimura told a meeting of Osaka Ishin no Kai, a regional political party linked to the JIP, which was held in the city of Osaka. At a press conference later in the day, the governor explained that he decided on the move because he “determined that the metropolitan plan is needed for Osaka’s further growth.” The Osaka metropolitan plan seeks to eliminate purported administrative redundancy caused by the existence of both the prefectural and city governments. In their coalition deal reached last year, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its new coalition partner, the JIP, agreed to seek enactment of a bill on a secondary capital initiative during this year’s ordinary parliament session. The JIP wants to realize the Osaka metropolis plan and make the city Japan’s secondary capital. Assuming that the next Lower House election would be held on Feb. 8, the official campaign period for the gubernatorial election is expected to begin on Jan. 22 and the period for the mayoral election on Jan. 25. If they are reelected, the end of Yoshimura and Yokoyama’s terms will remain unchanged from before their resignations, on April 8, 2027. The Osaka metropolis plan was rejected in referendums in 2015 and 2020. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]