Mayor Kishiwada, despite the no-confidence motion against him for adultery…did not resign, but “backpedaled” and dissolved the assembly, “weighing in excess of 70 million yen in election expenses”.

“I think it’s a ‘domestic’ issue. I don’t think it disqualifies me as a politician.

Kohei Nagano, 46, mayor of Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture, said at a press conference on December 24 after dissolving the city council, which had passed a no-confidence motion against him over his sexual relationship with his adulterous partner. Mayor Nagano was automatically disqualified from office if he did not resign or dissolve the city council by the 30th of this month.

Despite his own affair, Nagano chose to dissolve the council.

Instead of resigning, he dissolved the council as if he was “upset.

At the press conference, the mayor said,

“I don’t understand the content of the no-confidence resolution at all, and I don’t have a good reason for it,” he said.

The mayor is in a state of “backpedaling.

The city council election will be held on January 26, 2010, with the election to be held on February 2. According to the Election Administration Committee, the cost of the city council election is approximately 73 million yen, and the sudden implementation of the election will cost even more.

The city council members are furious, saying, “The one without a cause is you. The city council members were suddenly thrown out of the city hall after the dissolution of the city council, and it was very difficult for them just to pack up their belongings. Many citizens of Kishiwada are also calling for the city council members to take responsibility and quit the council once and for all, instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on elections.

On November 14, the mayor of Kishiwada City apologized and paid 5 million yen to a woman who filed a civil suit seeking damages for sexual relations, and a settlement was reached. According to the attorney for the woman, the records of the lawsuit are restricted from public inspection, but there is no provision in the settlement that prohibits her from talking about it.