A day after the candidate backed wholeheartedly by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga lost badly in the Yokohama mayoral election, the prime minister said Monday that he was "humbled" by the result.
"It was a very disappointing result," Suga said to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office.
Sunday's election showdown featured all candidates running as independents, with Suga-backed Hachiro Okonogi, a former chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, finishing far behind in second. He was vanquished by Takeharu Yamanaka, who is officially supported by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as well as backed by the opposition in general.
"I want to accept the result humbly," said Suga, who represents the three central wards of Yokohama. "Residents of the city made their choice by taking the coronavirus and other issues into consideration."
Suga, however, said he remains determined to seek reelection as the Liberal Democratic Party's president later this year.
"I have said that it is natural for me to run for the presidency when the time comes," he said. "My thinking hasn't changed."
Hiroshi Moriyama, chairperson of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, brushed off possible repercussions of the election result on the running of Suga administration.
"I don't think the result of a local election will reflect on national politics," Moriyama told reporters in the Diet Building on Monday morning.
On the winning side, however, Jun Azumi, the CDPJ's Diet affairs chief, stressed the opposition parties' successful joint effort.
"We were able to prove that if the opposition parties unite," Azumi said, "we can achieve a landslide."
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