A residents’ group in Wakayama has submitted a petition to the Wakayama election committee calling for a referendum regarding the prefecture’s IR bid. The group spent a month collecting signatures for a referendum, stating, “There is no opportunity for citizens to vote, despite the fact that this is a serious issue for citizens.”
All 20,833 signatures were handed to the Wakayama city election committee.
Wakayama city requires the signatures of 2% of registered voters, or around about 6,200 people, over the course of one month in order to directly request a referendum.
After submission of the signatures to the election administration committee, they are confirmed for validity and will be counted by 29 December to be submitted to the mayor in early January. Opinions will be added to the proposal by the mayor, then submitted to the city council where a decision will be made.
Clairvest Neem Ventures, a subsidiary of Canadian investment firm Clairvest Group, was selected as Wakayama’s preferred potential operator and signed a basic agreement with the prefecture in August.
It was announced at the end of September that US casino giant Caesars Entertainment would also participate as casino operator. Currently the prefecture and Clairvest are working together on an area development plan to submit to the central government by the application deadline of 28 April 2022.
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