Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike quits before announcing a third term bid

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press) – Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike did not announce her possible bid for a third term in her policy speech at the start of a Tokyo metropolitan meeting on Wednesday.

Close attention is being paid to when Koike will officially announce her candidacy for the July 7 gubernatorial election, as she has probably already decided to run for the election.

In the speech, Koike reiterated her enthusiasm to fulfill her duties as governor of the Japanese capital, although she made no mention of the upcoming elections. “I have not wavered for a moment in my determination to create a metropolitan government that gives hope to the people of Tokyo,” she emphasized.

Koike told reporters later in the day that her main job now as a sitting governor is to respond fully to the metropolitan meeting that began that day.

On Tuesday, she was asked by members of the regional political party Tomin First no Kai (Tokyo First Group) and Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to seek another term in the upcoming elections. The LDP is also expected to support Koike if she wants to be re-elected.

Meanwhile, Renho, a prominent member of Japan’s main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, announced her candidacy for the governorship of Tokyo on Monday. The CDP and the Japanese Communist Party will support Renho in the gubernatorial election.

More than two dozen others have also indicated they plan to run, including Shinji Ishimaru, mayor of the western city of Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture.