At the village assembly held on the 16th, a no-confidence motion was submitted against Mayor Kunio Furukoshi, blaming him for the power harassment problem that has continued for many years among the officials of the Funahashi Village Office in Toyama Prefecture. Passed.
In response to this, Mayor Furukoshi dissolved the village assembly.
Regarding the power harassment problem at the Funahashi Village Office, a third-party committee report released on the 6th of this month stated that power harassment had been repeated among employees for at least 10 years, and that about 10 of the 30 or so employees had been accused of harassment. After claiming that they had suffered damage, they concluded that ``the lack of awareness of compliance among managers and supervisors, including the village mayor and deputy mayor, caused power harassment to spread.''
In response to this, three members of the village council jointly submitted a no-confidence motion against Mayor Furukoshi at the village assembly held on the 16th.
Takayuki Takeshima, who explained the reason for the proposal, said, ``We cannot overlook the responsibility of the village mayor, who has overlooked power harassment that has become normalized for more than 10 years. I am unfit to be the mayor."
And as a result of voting after this, all six people including the chairman agreed and passed.
According to the parliamentary secretariat, it is the first time that a no-confidence motion against the village mayor has been submitted and passed in Funabashi Village.
Upon receiving the vote, Mayor Furukoshi visited chairman Hiroaki Mori after the meeting closed and said, ``I have received a notice that a no-confidence vote has been made against me, so I will notify you to dissolve the assembly based on the Local Autonomy Law.'' and dissolved the village council.
As a result, in Funahashi Village, the village assembly member election will be held within 40 days.
Takayuki Takeshima, who submitted the no-confidence motion, said, "I was surprised that the result was unanimous, but I think that all members of the Diet share the recognition that Funahashi Village should be honest in the future. I hope that the young people who will take over the village from now on will have hope and that they will be able to create a comfortable village to live in.”
Hiroaki Mori, the chairman of the Funabashi village assembly, said, "I'm glad that the bill was passed based on Mayor Furukoshi's achievements so far. Mayor Furukoshi has been deputy mayor for 12 years, and he doesn't have any intention of solving the power harassment problem. If I had, this wouldn't have happened," he said.
Residents of Funahashi Village expressed surprise and hoped for an improvement in the situation.
Among them, an 18-year-old female vocational school student said, ``I was surprised because I never thought that something like this would happen in the village.''
A man in his 70s said, ``I think it's a disgrace to be talked about like this. I don't know what to do in this day and age. I want politics to be more open and beneficial to the villagers."
A female office worker in her twenties said, "If the village chief isn't involved, I don't think he should resign. I want the village to continue to be a peaceful and comfortable place to live. This time, I want to help build a good village." I would be happy if it was a chance," he said.