In Japan and members of the Constitutional Democratic Party have reportedly convened the first meeting of an internal group that is to intensively lobby against the granting of the nation’s inaugural trio of integrated casino resort licenses.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Casino Problem Countermeasures body held its maiden summit on Tuesday where is pledged to begin cooperating with relevant local authorities so as to help defeat various integrated casino resort bids. The source detailed that the centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party currently has 109 members in the country’s 465-seat House of Representatives where its serves as the official opposition to the coalition Liberal Democratic Party-led government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Yokohama proposition:

The Constitutional Democratic Party is especially popular is Kanagawa Prefecture where it is to reportedly lobby for an ordinance that would oblige local officials to hold a referendum before making a run at securing one of the three licenses to build and operate a Las Vegas-style development. This region purportedly contains the giant city of Yokohama, which has long held ambitions of bringing an integrated casino resort to a 116-acre waterfront parcel of land near Yamashita Park.

Mayoral reaction:

Home to approximately 3.7 million people, Yokohama is widely seen as a leading contender for one of the three coming licenses with the city’s mayor, Fumiko Hayashi, recently reportedly describing the referendum proposition as ‘pointless’ due to her belief that ‘representative democracy is functioning soundly’. However, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Yukio Edano (pictured), purportedly responded to this assertion by stating that ‘representative democracy is not a carte blanche mandate.’

Tokyo prospect:

The website for the Casino Problem Countermeasures organization reportedly explained that it moreover intends to work beyond Kanagawa Prefecture and mentioned that Tokyo may begin looking to secure one of the integrated casino resort licenses following elections for its 127-member assembly in July.