Japan’s casino bill now looks certain to pass into law today after an upper house committee approved the bill, despite opposition from anti-gambling factions.
On Tuesday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party offered to make some revisions to the Casino Bill to address some of the concerns of the Democratic Party and chairman Shoji Namba agreed to put the bill up for a vote. Based on the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Ishin, the revised Casino Bill passed the committee by majority vote.
The revisions that mollified the Democratic Party related to clearer language on making it a requirement that a policy to combat gambling addiction must be formulated and that a review of the law would become required within five years.
It is to be noted that while the Democratic Party allowed the vote to be held and thus to pass committee to the plenary session, they all voted against the bill. The smaller opposition parties other than Ishin also voted against the bill, while two ruling coalition Komeito lawmakers on the committee split their votes, one for and one against.
It is also known that the public has generally claimed to be opposed to legalising casinos due to concerns about problem gambling, as well as organised crime and juvenile delinquency.
On the last day of the Diet session, today, a plenary session of the House of Councillors is expected to pass the revised bill. But because the text of the bill is now different, it will be sent back to the House of Representatives, which is then also expected to pass the revised bill the same day. Thus, the Casino Bill will in all probability be enacted today.
Source: Asia Gaming Brief
