Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

JRP in Osaka shocked at internal party division

Despite its majority in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, the ruling Japan Restoration Party on December 16 failed to pass through a governor-proposed bill due to dissent within the party.

The bill aimed at selling to the U.S.-based Lone Star Funds prefecture-owned shares of the semi-public company, Osaka Prefectural Urban Development Co., Ltd., which operates a local railroad called Semboku Rapid Railway.

Osaka Governor Matsui Ichiro, who also serves as JRP secretary general, had claimed that the bill to sell the stocks is necessary to reduce Semboku railway fares. However, in the process of selecting a buyer of the stocks by a prefectural committee, Lone Star offered only a 10 yen decrease in the fares while its rival, Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd., proposed an 80 yen reduction.

Nevertheless, the prefecture chose the U.S. investor. This provoked fierce objection from municipalities where Semboku Line stations are located.

The Sakai City Assembly early this month adopted a resolution calling on the prefecture to withdraw its selection of Lone Star as the buyer, arguing that the selection does not take into account residents’ convenience. The Izumi City Assembly also resolved to demand drastic cuts in train fares.

On the day the bill was brought to a vote, the prefectural assembly received 3,000 residents’ signatures in support of a petition calling for cancellation of the sale of the stocks to the U.S. funds management company.

Prior to the vote, the JRP ordered its 55 assembly members to vote for the governor-proposed bill. However, four JRP members refused to follow the order and voted against the bill, leading to the rejection of the bill with a vote of 53 to 51. The Japanese Communist Party and other major political parties also opposed the bill.

JCP Osaka Prefectural Committee Chair Yamaguchi Katsutoshi in his comment said, “Osaka people’s resistance has overcome the JRP’s runaway politics. The rejection of the bill indicates that conflicts are growing between Osakans’ demands and the JRP vision for a ‘metropolitan Osaka’ which promotes the privatization of public services.”