Deliberations over the passing of a bill, which is to legalize brick-and-mortar gambling venues in Japan, will likely move at a slower pace as the ruling coalition in the country that proposed the bill faces resistance from opposition parties. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, hoped to get the bill through a committee vote on Tuesday in order to gain enough time to enact it in upper house plenary vote before the two-week extension to the National Diet session ends.
Japan’s Democratic Party is bent on doing everything possible to deter the bill’s progress in the House of Councillors’ Cabinet committee. Democratic Party legislator, Shoji Namba, who acts as a Chairman of the committee, has considerable influence on the timing of votes on bills.
In a cross-party meeting, held on Tuesday afternoon, the Japanese Democratic Party announced its decision not to participate in the vote concerning the new gambling bill. Representatives of the Democratic Party insisted the bill should be resubmitted to the lower house with various amendments.
If the attempts of the opposition parties to prevent the committee vote prove to be successful, LDP legislators could cut short the deliberations to take the bill to a plenary session vote. The disputes over the bill might lead to a further extension of the Diet session. The latter was previously extended so that it can come to a close in time for the scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Friday.
On Tuesday, the Democratic party Diet Affairs Committee Chairman,Kazunori Yamanoi, addressed reporters stating the party was to take all possible measures to deter the casino bill’s enactment. Despite these setbacks,Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary General of the LDP, declared at a press conference on Tuesday, the LDP is firmly set on getting the bill through the upper house before the Diet session comes to an end.
LDP legislators, who favor the bill’s enactment, believe it will have a positive impact on both domestic and foreign tourism. Representatives of the opposition parties, however, argue that passing the bill will only exacerbate problem gambling in the country.
The bill was passed in the lower house (the House of Representatives) on December 6 after hours of deliberations. If enacted, the bill would allow for the so-called “integrated resorts” or gambling venues with hotels and entertainment facilities.
This idea of building integrated casino resorts is anything but new for Japanese lawmakers. The country’s previous government discussed this option back in 2009 and 2011 as this seemed a quick and effective way to transform Japan into a major tourism and entertainment destination, much like Macau. The debates went cold as opponents of the idea suggested the social costs for its realization are likely to exceed public revenue.
