Efforts are underway across Japan to increase the number of candidates for regional legislatures amid a declining population and an aging society, The Japan Times reported on March 6.
In the 375 city and town assembly elections held as part of the unified local voting in 2019, 93 of them were uncontested, with the share of unopposed seats reaching an all-time high of 23.3%.
Fearing that the existence of local governments could be threatened, many prefectures in Japan are taking steps to attract new candidates, such as raising the salaries of deputies.
In the 2019 election, Hokkaido registered four municipalities with fewer candidates than seats, the highest among the 47 prefectures.
Driven by a sense of crisis, a group of assemblymen in Hokkaido began a training course last April to increase the number of candidates.
Fifty people between the ages of 20 and 70 attended six classes during January, learning from incumbent assemblymen and university professors on bylaw writing and election preparation.
Seven students from the course plan to run for the next general elections in April.
“No new deputies will come if we don’t act,” said Hiroshi Tsuji, a member of the Noboribetsu city council in Hokkaido, who was among those who led the course.
The average monthly salary for city and town congregation members is about 210,000 yen (115,000 rubles), which is lower than the average starting salary for corporate employees who are college graduates.
Some assemblies seek to increase the salaries of their deputies, arguing that low salaries are one reason for the continuing shortage of candidates.
After the number of candidates in the 2017 election fell below the total number of seats, Ikusaka village in central Nagano prefecture raised the monthly salary of assembly members aged 55 and under to 180,000 yen (100,000 rubles) to 300,000 yen (165,000 rubles). ).
The increase took into account the cost of raising children, while the 55-year upper limit reflected the age at which parenthood often ends.
“Assembly members are people too, and if they have children, they are obliged to raise them,” Assembly Speaker Ikusaka Yuzuru Ota said.
In a poll conducted prior to the Ikusaka Village Assembly’s salary increase among randomly selected residents aged 25-50, more than 70% of respondents supported the increase.
The 2021 Ikusaka assembly election, the first since the pay increase, was the first competitive race in 20 years and resulted in two new assembly members under the age of 55.
Gaining local understanding about wage increases is not an easy task. The Chizu City Council in the western Tottori Prefecture approved a 51,000 yen increase in members’ monthly salaries in September 2020, but some residents opposed the move.
More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for the increase to be canceled and the city was forced to delay it.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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