Osaka Governor Yoshimura, Mayor Yokoyama Secure Re-Election

Osaka, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)–Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama secured re-election in Sunday’s polls in the western Japan prefecture and its capital. The races were timed to coincide with the country’s general election, after Yoshimura, 50, and Yokoyama, 44, resigned from their positions in a renewed bid to advance the so-called Osaka metropolis plan for local government realignment. Yoshimura plans to call a fresh referendum on the metropolis plan, a signature policy of the Japan Innovation Party, which he heads, during his newly secured tenure ending in April 2027. But some in the JIP are critical of Yoshimura and Yokoyama’s decision to step down and call elections. It is uncertain whether the governor-elect can push forward with his proposal. Major parties other than JIP did not field candidates for the gubernatorial and mayoral races, arguing that there was no justification for holding the elections. It is Yoshimura’s third victory in an Osaka gubernatorial poll and Yokoyama’s second in an Osaka mayoral poll. The end of their terms will remain unchanged at April next year. The Osaka metropolis plan, which calls for scrapping the city of Osaka and reorganizing it into special wards under Osaka Prefecture in a manner similar to Tokyo’s 23 special wards, was rejected in local referendums in 2015 and 2020. Ahead of Sunday’s Osaka polls, Yoshimura touted the benefits of the plan, such as eliminating purported administrative redundancy caused by the existence of both the prefectural and city governments. He argued the need to make Osaka the country’s secondary capital to alleviate the overconcentration of people and resources in Tokyo. The coalition agreement between the JIP and the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party calls for establishing legislation on the secondary capital proposal. Yoshimura fended off two other candidates in the gubernatorial election, while Yokoyama beat four challengers in the mayoral race. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]