Search - local-elections

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2000

Localities urge Tokyo to lead on suffrage issue

Almost 50 percent of major municipalities believe the central government should determine whether foreigners are granted suffrage in local elections rather than leaving the decision to local authorities, a Kyodo News survey said Saturday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 2, 2023

Myanmar junta extends state of emergency, delaying elections

The country has been in turmoil since the army's power grab in 2021, and a subsequent crackdown on dissent has sparked fighting across swathes of the nation while tanking the economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2022

A visit that could soothe Tokyo’s suspicions of Seoul

The visit to Japan by South Korea's foreign minister, Park Jin, could be the most consequential of the Yoon presidency.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2022

Boris Johnson’s endless battle to survive

The embattled British leader is attempting a reset of his premiership — the latest in a long line of reboots — even as more trouble looks to be on the horizon.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 27, 2021

Xenophobia spills into Japan’s COVID-era debate on immigration

Recent events raise concerns that the country is souring on immigration as it enters a third year of border closures and economic upheaval.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2021

Lessons from Britain: The old way of politicking no longer applies

The recent remarkable electoral events in the U.K. have big implications for British politics. But they also contain important lessons that should be of interest everywhere in the world where politicians and political parties seek the support of voters under modern conditions, Japan very much included....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2020

The buck stops with Putin

Those now accusing the Kremlin in Alexei Navalny's poisoning are unlikely to find any “smoking gun.” It doesn't matter: ultimately, the Kremlin is to blame.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 25, 2019

Is a new era dawning for women in politics?

Last Sunday's local elections saw the largest number of female assembly and mayoral candidates being elected ever.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 28, 2019

Vote highlights problems with Henoko plan

The vitally important Futenma replacement facility shouldn't be built on a pack of lies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2018

Merkel rolls dice with Germany's new immigration law

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes a new immigration law will make it easier for foreign workers to find jobs, but her push to fill a record number of vacancies risks angering voters who still resent her open-door refugee policy.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2017

Iran's Rouhani wins a second term

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is no Western-style liberal but he understands that Iran's best hope rests on reintegration into the region and the world.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2017

Former rebel leaders detail role played by Putin aide in east Ukraine

A top aide to Vladimir Putin decides how the pro-Moscow administration of eastern Ukraine is run and who gets what jobs there, three former rebel leaders said, challenging Kremlin denials that it calls the shots in the region.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2016

Labour candidate Khan set to become London's first Muslim mayor after bitter campaign

Labour candidate Sadiq Khan was set to become the first Muslim to be elected mayor of London on Thursday, loosening the ruling Conservatives' hold on Britain's financial center after a campaign marred by charges of anti-Semitism and extremism.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2015

Russia cracks down again on NGOs

Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest crackdown on NGOs is just one more attempt to silence any opposition to his rule.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Apr 26, 2015

Unlike elections, referendums are a PR free-for-all

With less than three weeks until the May 17 referendum on whether to consolidate the city of Osaka into five semi-autonomous wards, supporters and opponents of the plan are engaged in an intense and unprecedented media and public relations campaign to win over voters.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 18, 2015

Mind the gap: Nara election reveals voter values

In the wake of last Sunday's local elections, big city political reporters were quick to see the results as (1) a mandate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and (2) a disaster for the Democratic Party of Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2015

Untimely stimulus package

If Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to tame the negative impact of the weak yen, he should try reining in the excessive monetary easing by the central bank instead of drawing up a stimulus package worth trillions of yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Nov 30, 2012

New Komeito not necessarily on same policy page as old, hawkish ally LDP

Revising the war-renouncing Constitution is not an urgent matter and neither the majority of the public nor the international community is supporting Japan's recent rightward tilt led by the Liberal Democratic Party, said Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of LDP ally New Komeito.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2010

Foreigner suffrage opponents rally

Conservative intellectuals and key executives from five political parties were among the thousands who gathered in Tokyo on Saturday to rally against granting foreign residents voting rights for local elections.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2006

Pre-empting official corruption

It seems the longer that one stays in power, the more likely he is to become corrupted. Former Gov. Eisaku Sato of Fukushima Prefecture was arrested in October -- shortly after his resignation on suspicion of receiving a bribe from a contractor in a prefectural dam project -- 18 years after he was first...
COMMENTARY
Dec 14, 2005

Countdown to Taiwan's co-optation

The resounding defeat of Taiwan's ruling party in recent local elections means that China may soon be able to take Taiwan by a combination of enticement and threat. That could occur after Taiwan's March 2008 presidential elections, in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight