Overview
- Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama is finalizing a proposal to the city assembly to set up a statutory council that drafts the design for the Osaka Metropolis plan.
- If both the city and prefectural assemblies approve the council, officials say debate toward holding a residents’ referendum would enter a full phase.
- Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura wants the referendum held by next spring and says an upcoming Osaka City West Ward by-election will make the plan a central campaign issue.
- The Osaka Ishin faction that holds a majority in the city assembly is resisting an early launch of the council, signaling friction over the pace of the push.
- Party adviser Nobuyuki Baba has suggested Yoshimura may focus on arranging the referendum as his current role, and Yoshimura and Yokoyama earlier won on pledges to produce the plan’s blueprint.