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On January 21, an additional three prospective candidates for the next House of Representatives election and one prospective candidate for the next House of Councillors election were confirmed in a meeting of the Standing Officers Council.
The four candidates confirmed are as follows:
Hokkaido No. 4 district, House of Representatives (HR), Takahiro Sasaki (64), former member of the House of Representatives Shiga No. 4 district, HR, Hisashi Tokunaga (50), former member of the House of Councillors Nara No. 4 district, HR, Takanori Onishi (57), former member of the House of Representatives Nagasaki No. 2 district, HR, Yukishige Okubo (47), former member of the House of Councillors Akita district, House of Councillors, Daigo Matsuura (44), former member of the House of Councillors
In a press briefing following the Standing Officers Council meeting, Election Campaign Committee Chair Sumio Mabuchi explained the reasoning for the selection of these additional candidates, saying, "Our [selection] efforts last year focused on those who fought the last general election for the House of Representatives, but this round focuses specifically on those who fought in the last election for the House of Councillors, and who are entitled to special consideration due to circumstances relating to their candidacy and electoral result. With regard to these candidates, the party Election Campaign Committee has judged it appropriate to select them as prospective official candidates, having received a request to that effect from their respective prefectural headquarters."
Mabuchi went on to discuss the process for selecting further prospective candidates for national elections, stating that from now on the party would not adopt a different process for each batch of candidates. He stated that suitable prospective candidates would be those whom party branches, regions, party prefectural headquarters and party headquarters all considered to be appropriate for the role. He added that party headquarters and the various party prefectural headquarters would engage in discussions, and engage in a candidate selection process which will unearth prospective candidates in a process open to the general public, involving such means as direct application by individuals, recommendations, open recruitment and preliminary ballots.
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