Descriptions:
Elections to the House of Councilors will be held this summer. In Miyagi County, two candidates are vying for recognition from the Liberal Democratic Party. Mitsuru Sakurai, who last won four elections as a single opposition candidate and is seeking recognition from the Liberal Democratic Party, and Mitsujiro Ishikawa, a former prefectural assembly chairman who is backed by the prefectural federation. Party headquarters plans to decide on official recognition through a public opinion poll this weekend, and the preliminary battle is reaching its final stages. February of this year. House of Councilor Mitsuru Sakurai and Prefectural Assembly member Mitsujiro Ishikawa visited the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. On this day, in connection with the official recognition of the elections to the House of Councillors, it was decided that “the candidate with the highest approval rating in the public opinion polls to be held on April 9 and 10 will be recognized as a certified candidate.” another candidate will be a candidate for election to the House of Councilors three years later.” I did just that. Mitsuru Sakurai: “I am not a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, so I cannot make any comments. From now on, I will calmly follow the decisions made by the party headquarters.” Mitsujiro Ishikawa: “My thoughts… I want to work and act so that my message is widely understood by the people of the prefecture.” Conflict over LDP recognition of Miyagi constituency. It all started with the current president, Mr. Sakurai. Mr Sakurai won four elections in the last House of Councilors elections as a “united opposition candidate”. However, in 2019 he became independent and later joined the LDPR faction, saying: “I want to work for the ruling party.” I am considering standing as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in this election for the House of Councillors. Mitsuru Sakurai: “During my experience in the ruling party (Liberal Democratic Party faction), I had to do a lot of different jobs, so in this sense the ruling party and the opposition party are completely different.” The agreement was concluded at the party headquarters, Sakurai took significant steps regarding the elections to the House of Councilors. He made no comments and continues to serve as an MP. In April, Mr. Sakurai had conducted exactly 200 training sessions since his first election in 1998. Mr. Mitsuru Sakurai: “I think I will probably ask you to hold a study session next year, but before that I need to win the election. I want to do it with that attitude. Thank you very much.” “Meanwhile, Mr. Sakurai said: The Miyagi Prefectural Federation, which is part of the Liberal Democratic Party, opposes this move. The Prefectural Federation approached party headquarters for official recognition, believing that prefectural assembly member Kojiro Ishikawa was more suitable than Sakurai, who had previously contested as an opponent. Mr. Kojiro Ishikawa: “I believe that the voices of the people on the ground must be firmly reflected in the administration, and that policies must be put in place to achieve this goal.” Mr. Ishikawa worked as a public secretary for a member of the House of Representatives until 2005, when he was first elected to the prefectural assembly. He served as Secretary General of the Miyagi Prefectural Federation of the Liberal Democratic Party and Chairman of the Prefectural Assembly. Mr. Kojiro Ishikawa: “The only thing we have to do is make people remember their names and faces, so we will have to go around and make requests.” Mr. Ishikawa’s goal is to gain recognition. The Federation of Prefectures is working as a support organization for Mr Ishikawa in the run-up to the House of Councillors’ elections. Kojiro Ishikawa: “I had the opportunity to communicate with voters, and I feel a positive response. I want to build a system that allows us to win.” The opposition party, which won last time by supporting Sakurai, nominated a new candidate. The movement is taking shape. Atsushi Azumi, spokesman for the Miyagi Prefectural Federation of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan: “I believe this is a fight to regain the valuable seat we won from the opposition.” On April 2, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan decided to support prefectural assembly member Jinko Obata. Hitoshi Obata: “I want everyone in the world to know that even people who raise children can participate in politics and bring energy to Miyagi Prefecture and the entire country.” Ms. Obata, who has eight children, is 44 years old and from Saitama Prefecture. She is a “young person” who was first elected to the prefectural assembly in 2019 after working as a nurse at a hospital in Sendai City. In a follow-up to last year, the Constitutional Democratic Party is seeking to become the “unified opposition candidate” and the Japan Reconstruction Party, which won first place in the Tohoku region in last year’s House of Representatives elections, is also moving to field a candidate. There are about three months left before the elections to the House of Councilors. With a decision on official recognition of the LDP expected to be made as early as next week, the structure of the fight for the Miyagi constituency is about to take shape.