OSAKA — Osaka Mayor Junichi Seki is expected to be re-elected when voters go to the polls Nov. 18, despite public anger over the city's problematic assimilation assistance policy for descendants of the feudal outcast class, failing public works projects and a lack of appeal among his peers, even in the ruling bloc.
The election currently pits Seki against Osaka City University professor Nobuya Hashizume, running as an independent, and former Japanese Communist Party municipal assembly member Kiyoshi Himeno, who is running with the JCP's support.
After months of negotiations, the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc was expected to endorse Seki by Nov. 4, when the campaign begins. Both parties have supported him in past elections.