Official campaigning begins for Tokyo assembly election

Official campaigning for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election kicked off Friday, an event regarded as the prelude to a lower house election to be held by this fall.The main focus of the July 4 election is whether the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito party -- which form the ruling coalition in parliament -- will prevail over Tomin First no Kai, or the Tokyoites First party, founded by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike. The regional party currently holds the largest force in the assembly.The assembly election has drawn public attention and strong support from each political party, as it is …READ FULL ARTICLE