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Friday, 4th March 2016
In General Japan News,
Ruling LDP Party will not supply candidate for Kyoto by-election
No candidate will be put forward for the upcoming House of Representatives by-election in Kyoto by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The empty seat has been vacated by a party member, who resigned after an infidelity came to light, a source from inside the LDP has confirmed.
As a result of the scandal, nobody from the party will be standing in the No 3 district of the Kyoto Prefecture, as it fears there will not be enough support, reports Japan Today.
An additional consideration for the LDP is its reputation at the House of Councillors election, which is due to take place in the summer.
In order to allow the dust to settle around any negative publicity, the LDP won’t be fielding a candidate on April 24th.
Sadakazu Tanigaki, general secretary of the LDP, informed Shoji Nishida, head of the party’s local chapter in Kyoto, of the intention not to endorse a candidate in the race on Sunday (February 28th).
The Democratic Party of Japan, which represents the biggest threat to the LDP, is planning on putting a politician forward for the post.
It is expected that nominations from other smaller parties will also be in the race when the campaigning begins on April 12th.
This all comes in the wake of Kensuke Miyazaki’s resignation of February 12th.
He had intended to make headlines by becoming the first lawmaker in Japan to take paternity leave, as his wife was due to give birth imminently.
In a blog post from December, he wrote: “I wanted to take a step toward changing our society in which male participation in child-rearing is significantly underdeveloped and women alone are saddled with its duties.”
Instead, his story became newsworthy due to an affair he was having, which he has since admitted to.
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