Kobe –
Former Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito was re-elected on Sunday after he was effectively ousted from the post over his alleged power harassment.
In his second term, Saito, 47, faces the challenges of recovering public trust in the Hyogo prefectural government and restoring relations with the assembly, which once removed him from the post.
„I will take criticism seriously, restart relations with prefectural government officials and move forward with policies,“ Saito told reporters.
In September, Saito opted to lose his post as governor and run in a fresh election without taking action to counter a no-confidence motion that the prefectural assembly unanimously passed against him.
In the absence of support from political parties, Saito focused his campaign on the internet, pledging continued reforms and increased support for young people.
Saito apparently garnered support from voters who had doubts about the critical media coverage of him and the prefectural assembly’s approach to him, said Masahiro Zenkyo, professor at Kwansei Gakuin University in the Hyogo city of Nishinomiya.
Saito’s six rivals in the gubernatorial election included Kazumi Inamura, 52, former mayor of the Hyogo city of Amagasaki who campaigned on pledges including enacting an ordinance to prevent harassment. She had support from some assembly members from the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
The immediate focus following Saito’s re-election is how assembly members will deal with a prefectural government led by him. If the bad blood between the assembly and Saito lingers, the prefecture will find it difficult to enact a budget and implement policies.
Saito collected 1,113,911 votes, compared with 976,637 votes for Inamura. Voter turnout rose to 55.65% from 41.10% in the previous gubernatorial election in 2021.