Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 June 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

Ishin-no-Kai forcibly cuts number of Osaka Assembly seats

Osaka’s local party “Osaka Ishin-no-Kai,” headed by Governor Hashimoto Toru, on June 4 approved a bill to impose an ordinance that will reduce 21 prefectural assembly seats by using the force of its majority at a plenary session without discussion.

On June 3, an ordinance to compel teachers to stand up during the singing of the song “Kimigayo” (May the emperor reign forever) was also bulldozed through the assembly by the Ishin-no-Kai.

The bill to reduce the fixed number of seats in the Osaka prefectural assembly proposes to make the new quorum 88 from the present 109, resulting in having 90% of constituencies either single-seat or 2-seats from the current multi-seat constituency level of up to 7 seats. The proposal is extraordinary and the first of its kind nationwide, radically discarding minority opinions and eliminating smaller parties.

The Japanese Communist Party opposed the bill, severely criticizing it for seeking a quick vote without any discussion of the serious question related to the prefectural people’s rights and the very essence of democracy.

The JCP and trade unions in Osaka promptly launched protest actions against the governor and Ishin-no-Kai for the series of outrageous challenges against the interests of prefectural people.