Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A bill to allow foreigners to vote in Musashino City, Tokyo, was passed by the city council’s general affairs committee on December 13. If approved at the plenary session of the city council on December 21, it will be enacted as an ordinance.

The bill allows residents aged 18 or older who have lived in the city for more than three months to vote –without distinguishing between Japanese and foreigners – and allows them to apply for a referendum with more than a quarter of their signatures. Critics say the vote is not legally binding, but it will lead to the recognition of foreign suffrage in a broader sense.

At the beginning of the deliberation, Musashino’s Referendum Ordinance, a group opposed to the move, filed a petition. Representative of the group, Kaneko Munetoku said, “The bill has a problem with the submission and it actually grants foreign suffrage. The public relations and public hearings are insufficient, and we urge the city government to continue its review on the premise that the bill will be scrapped or revised significantly.”

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito opposed the bill, saying it was not well explained to the city people, but the bill was approved by members of the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Communist Party.