Japan Ruling Camp Postpones Voting on Casino Legislation

June 8, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, gave up having a vote on Friday by the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee on a bill to introduce casino-featuring integrated resorts.

At a board meeting of the Lower House committee the same day, the ruling parties first proposed voting on the bill.

But opposition parties turned down the proposal. The two sides remained divided when the committee's board met again later in the day.

The opposition camp, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, claimed that deliberations on the bill have been insufficient and indicated readiness to submit a motion to dismiss the committee's chairman, Daishiro Yamagiwa.

To avoid any confusion ahead of Sunday's gubernatorial election in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, the ruling camp decided not to proceed with the voting on Friday, informed sources said.

The LDP and Komeito aim for a vote on Wednesday, according to the sources.

Still, the government and the ruling camp remain committed to having the casino legislation enacted during the current parliamentary session, now scheduled to end on June 20, eyeing the possibility of extending the sitting.

Tomoko Abe of the CDPJ, a member of the committee's board, told a press conference, "The requested materials have not been submitted and we haven't had sufficient discussions."

She claimed that the ruling camp has not made efforts to respond to people's worries about the establishment of casinos in Japan and indicated a plan to demand public hearings be held in regions.

The opposition camp has opposed the bill, arguing that gambling addiction could spread among Japanese people. Jiji Press