Statement by Takeshi Niinami, Chairperson of Keizai Doyukai on Result of Tokyo Gubernatorial Election

July 7, 2024

Takeshi Niinami
Chairperson, Keizai Doyukai

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1. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike won her third four-year term in the election held today. The result of the election is deemed to reflect the voter's support for her total eight years' running of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, such as in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
2. Tokyo--Japan's capital--must look to an attractive cosmopolitan city, which is highly competitive in the world and is livable with the people's well-being. We request Governor Koike to further step up efforts to bolster Tokyo's competitiveness, such as by concretizing the recently announced proposal for Special Zones for Financial and Asset Management and promoting the startup strategy "Global Innovation with STARTUPS."
3. Furthermore, we expect Governor Koike to demonstrate leadership in addressing the shrinking population that is getting even more serious. On top of implementing Tokyo Metropolitan Government's proprietary child-rearing support, her policy management with a perspective covering Tokyo and neighboring prefectures is what we wish to see. Examples in this regard include promotion of countermeasures to the declining birthrate in tandem with neighboring prefectures, accepting foreign workforce, and realization of inclusive society.
4. Meanwhile, during the campaign period, there were candidates' acts that could threaten credibility of the election, such as inappropriate use of campaign poster spaces. How can we recover voters' trust to politics and create an atmosphere where policy-oriented balloting prevails, while keeping freedom in candidacy and diversity of candidates? Now is the time to overhaul our election system and regulations for election campaign.

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