IR battle begins in the Yokohama City Council

The second-largest caucus in the Yokohama City Council, called Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Citizens’ Forum, has already decided to oppose Mayor Fumiko Hayashi’s desire to launch an IR bid at Yamashita Pier, and will submit a bill to strip all IR-related expenses from the mayor’s proposed city budget.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Citizens’ Forum holds 20 seats in the 86-seat chamber, and will almost certainly find an eager anti-casino ally in the 9-seat Japan Communist Party caucus.

On the other hand, the 36-seat Liberal Democratic Party and Independents Association caucus will probably back Mayor Hayashi and the IR development.

The balance, therefore, will be held by the Komeito caucus, which is an ally of the ruling coalition at the national level, but also based on the Soka Gakkai religious group which is predominantly anti-casino in ideological orientation. So far, Komeito has been quiet about the position they intend to take.

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