This unified local election marks the second since the Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field came into effect five years ago in 5, calling on political parties to make efforts to ensure that the number of male and female candidates is as equal as possible.
In 2018, a part of the Promotion Law was amended to increase effectiveness, and political parties and political organizations are working to set targets for the number of male and female candidates and improve the selection of candidates.
Of the 41,3139 candidates who ran for the 489 prefectural assembly elections this time, 4 were women, an increase of 100 from the previous election four years ago and the highest number ever.
In addition, the percentage of candidates in the total is about 15.6%, which is 2.9 points higher than the previous election and the highest ever.
Looking at the number and ratio of female candidates by political party, the LDP has 78 members (6%), the Constitutional Democratic Party (DPJ) has 64 members (26%), the Japan Restoration Party has 36 members (17%), the Komeito Party has 28 members (16%),
and the Communist Party has 91 members (48%)
▽ The People's Democratic Party has 10 members with 22%,
the Reiwa Shinsengumi has 1 member (50%), the Social Democratic Party has 4 members (67%), ▽ The suffragist party has 5 members (19%), ▽ Various factions have 14 members (26%),
▽ Independents have 158 members (18%)
.
Looking at the ratio of female candidates by 41 prefectures, Kyoto
Prefecture had 22 candidates at 26%, Nagano
Prefecture had 19, Kanagawa Prefecture had 37 candidates, Kagawa Prefecture had 13 candidates (23% each), and
Okayama Prefecture had 13 candidates at 20%.
On the other hand, the lowest were ▽ Yamanashi and Saga prefectures with 3 people each at 6%, ▽
Wakayama prefecture with 4 people, Oita prefecture with 5 people each at 8%,
▽ Gifu prefecture with 6 people and 10%.
Expert: "The momentum to increase the number of women has increased, and results have been achieved"
Mari Miura, a professor at Sophia University's Faculty of Law, who is an expert on politics and gender, said, "The momentum to increase the number of women has increased throughout society, and the number of women who have actually decided to run for office has increased.
He then pointed out, "If you look at it in detail, there are regions where there has increased, areas that have decreased, and regions where there has hardly changed, and it is necessary to carefully look at regional differences.
"Local councillors deal with issues related to our daily lives, and the presence of women and diverse people in local councils will greatly change the quality of our lives, so many people need to be more concerned," she emphasized.
Regarding the fact that the proportion of women in the total number of candidates has been lower than in the municipal elections so far, Professor Miura said, "The elections are centered on political parties, and if political parties make the selection process for candidates more transparent, I think more women will raise their hands, so I hope for an improvement."