Game Again Osaka Metropolitan Concept August 6 19:02
"Oh, I think it wasn't settled anymore." From a
national point of view, there may be a lot of people with that feeling.
The so-called “Osaka Metropolitan Concept”, which seemed to have disappeared, is scheduled to be held again in November. How did you get your breath back?
I followed a political drama in Osaka.
(Osaka Bureau Tetsuya Takayanagi, Toru Shimokoshi, Kazuo Kenbatake, Arata Aoki, Yuyo Nishizawa)
To the second referendum
A legal council was held at the Osaka City Hall on July 31st to examine the blueprint for the "Osaka Metropolitan Concept".
Chairman Yutaka Imai, after examining the legal agreement regarding the agreement on the city plan to reorganize the city of Osaka into four special wards, said that there is no particular problem. Report. He handed the agreement to Ichiro Matsui, the mayor of Osaka, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, the governor of Osaka Prefecture.
As a result, the agreement is officially decided. The second referendum held by Osaka citizens was virtually decided.
Prior to this, on July 21st, the Osaka Restoration Association convened a general meeting of the members.
Ichiro Matsui, who leads the party as a representative, flew off.
“Osaka must be passed by a referendum so that the country can be towed as a two-dimensional metropolis like Tokyo. I want all members to do their best.”
Matsui head came and went five years ago. It was a referendum on the city plan held in May 2015.
After a fierce battle, the result was rejected with a difference of 17,41 votes.
Of the 24 wards, 11 were in favor and 13 were in opposition. It was a battle that literally divided the city in two.
Toru Hashishita, the mayor of Osaka, who has worked on the concept of the city on a tripod, retired from the political world. Matsui will take over the baton.
Due to the defeat in the referendum, it was thought that it would be difficult to revive the city plan even during the Meiji Restoration. On the contrary, he was more concerned about what would happen to the party itself when Hashimoto retired.
So half a year later, we set up a double election between the governor of Osaka and the mayor of Osaka. Matsui resigned himself to the governor's election, and succeeded Hashishita by supporting Hirofumi Yoshimura, who was a member of the House of Representatives at the time.
Fight and win with the challenge of recreating the city plan. Somehow, the sprout of the city plan remained.
"Fun" relationship
Why is the Meiji Restoration so particular about the city plan?
The origin goes back to Matsui's days as a member of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly. At that time, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City were in a rivalry that both themselves and others acknowledge.
Water supply business is separate. Financing business for SMEs and consumer consultation business are also separate. Osaka Prefectural University and Osaka City University also coexist.
The symbol is large-scale development.
When the prefecture builds a skyscraper over 250 meters on the opposite bank of Kansai Airport, the city also constructs a skyscraper at the same height in Osaka Nanko. Many of these large-scale developments failed due to the recession after the bubble burst. The prefecture and the city are each in debt of over 5 trillion yen.
In Osaka, the relationship between the prefecture and the city was so angry that it was "unhappy".
At that time, Matsui often spilled.
"Anyway, I can't do anything about Osaka City. Double administration is no longer necessary."
Phase shift by a strange measure
With a new combination of Matsui and Yoshimura, Ishin started to challenge the concept of the city again, but things did not go smoothly. This is because the Osaka Prefectural Assembly and the Osaka City Assembly were dominated by anti-Ishin forces of the LDP, Komei and Communism. This composition was brought to the legal council, which was established again.
In opposition to the Meiji Restoration, which aims to realize the concept of the city based on the people's will of the double election, the three parties, the Liberal Democratic Party, Komei, and the Communist Party, have been completely opposed by the referendum. I was riding a reef.
The Meiji Restoration began a rough move ahead of the unified local elections last spring.
Matsui and Yoshimura both resigned during the term of office, and in the form of hitting the prefectural and city elections, they set up a double election between the governor and the mayor.
What's more, it's an unprecedented tactic that two people take turns running. It was a secret strategy I had been working on for several months.
The Liberal Democratic Party stood up for the candidates and stood up, but the lack of preparation was undeniable, and Ishin again won the double election. In the prefectural assembly held at the same time, the Meiji Restoration secured a single majority. In the Osaka City election, he gained a breakthrough with 40 seats approaching the majority.
In response to the election results, the Komeito, who had been strongly opposed to the concept of the city until then, changed its policy saying that "the public's intention was shown" and turned the rudder in favor of it. Now, in addition to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, the majority is in favor of the Osaka City Council.
Furthermore, the LDP, which has been fighting with the Meiji Restoration, has announced that the Osaka Prefectural President (at that time) Naomi Tokashiki will accept the referendum.
As a result, the legal council that was reopened progressed at a pace of renewal from beginning to end, unlike the situation before the election. In about a year, the agreements, which will be the blueprints for the city plan, were completed.
This is the "Osaka Metropolitan Concept"
The "Osaka Metropolitan Concept" is based on the 23 wards of Tokyo as a model, abolished the ordinance-designated city of Osaka and reorganized into 4 special wards. It is a plan to centralize wide area administration such as strategy in Osaka Prefecture.
The current Osaka city will be reorganized into four special wards: “Yodogawa Ward”, “Kita Ward”, “Chuo Ward” and “Tennoji Ward”. It is said that the move will take place on January 1, 2025, when the "Osaka-Kansai Expo" will be held.
The last plan that was rejected was to reorganize into 5 wards, and at that time there were concerns about new ward names such as "Wangan ward" and concern that there might be an economic disparity between wards. It was out. Based on this, the ward division was reviewed to be 4 wards, and the existing ward names were adopted.
Also, consideration was given to avoiding economic bias.
In "Yodogawa Ward", Shin-Osaka,
Umeda in "Kita Ward"
"Chuo-ku" is Minami,
In Tennoji Ward, there is Tennoji
It seems that the aim is to make the plan easier for citizens to accept, such as by incorporating terminals and commercial areas that will serve as bases.
In addition to using Osaka City Hall, the current 24 wards of government offices will be used as the main ward of the special ward and the administrative window, and child consultation centers will be set up in all 4 special wards. In addition, it plans to establish a new organization in Osaka Prefecture, which is responsible for wide-area administration, such as the "Special Ward Cooperation Bureau" that handles coordination with special wards and the "Fire Department" that controls fire fighting.
The initial cost of moving to the special ward is 24.1 billion yen, including 18.2 billion yen for system repair costs, 4.6 billion yen for government building maintenance costs, and 1.3 billion yen for expenses such as changing the guide display of the town. I anticipate.
"waited! ] Voice
There are still strong opposition to the city's conception, which will be voted on for the second time.
With the declining birthrate and aging population, there are concerns that there may be a decline in public services such as welfare and education, and whether the special ward is financially viable.
In addition, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City entrusted a university in Tokyo to throw out a figure of over 1 trillion yen over the economic effect of the realization of the city plan, but the opposition said, "The basis is unclear and credit "I can't do that," he says, "the burden of building a new special ward increases the cost, rather than the economic effect."
In addition, there are criticisms that the new address notation will be shown after the referendum, "I do not show the important things to the individual by the referendum, but I will question the attitude to decide later" because of the absence of the residents. ..
Regarding the names of “Kita-ku” and “Chuo-ku”, the legal council said that the Kita-ku and Chuo-ku of Tokyo “can cause confusion if they have the same name”. An "outside scuffle" also took place.
November 1 vote
If the agreement on the city concept decided by the legal council is approved by the Osaka Prefectural Assembly and the Osaka City Assembly, it is finally time for a referendum.
Prefectural assembly is expected to vote on August 28, and city council will vote on September 3. In both parliaments, approval is certain because the majority of the members are the Osaka Restoration Society and the Komeito, who are in favor of it.
The Osaka Restoration Association wants to hold a referendum on November 1st if the infection status of the new coronavirus does not deteriorate.
Yoshimura popularity
I feel a sense of improvement compared to the previous time when the restoration and denial were over.
The driving force for this is Hirofumi Yoshimura, the governor of Osaka Prefecture who acts as the representative of the party. As measures against the new coronavirus, the company has established a unique standard “Osaka model” and created support money for medical professionals.
At souvenir shops in the downtown area, even batches and mugs printed with Yoshimura's face are on sale.
One of the executives said, "While Mr. Hashishita has a strong fan, there are also many people who say no good. Mr. Yoshimura is accepted by a wide range of people and has few enemies. If this popularity continues, you do not have to make a fuss I can win."
On the other hand, some executives are nervous about the re-infection.
The "Osaka model" was illuminated by the "yellow signal" in July. "If the infection spreads and the "red light" lights up, it's far from the referendum," he said. "Governor Yoshimura is good at appealing first-hand, but he is not able to control the spread of infection and is not making effective preparations for the second wave," said the LDP Osaka City Council executives.
If the infection spreads any further, the referendum on November 1st will become severer.
Komei holding the key
The Komeito party, who opposed the last time but is in favor this time, is expected to hold the key.
As a member of the House of Representatives, who has seats in the four electoral districts in Osaka, there is a situation in which it is not a good idea to continue the conflict with the Meiji Restoration in order to maintain seats.
On July 11, Kyosei Toki, the secretary general of the party's Osaka headquarters, said that he will do his utmost to win an overwhelming victory in the referendum.
Komei is said to have a voting power of about 170,000 in Osaka city. The Meiji Restoration welcomes Komei, who has become a comrade, as "an encouraging ally."
However, the supporters who voted against it the last time do not hide their confusion in the party's policy.
“We are going to have to do “voluntary voting” externally,” said a member of the supporting mother Soka Gakkai. “The field is really tough, even though there are still many members who oppose it.”
Officials from the Komeito Party also said, "There are pros and cons within the party, but I have no choice but to think about the next House of Representatives election."
It is still unclear how far the party's approval policy will permeate its supporters.
Changes to the LDP
On the contrary, the Liberal Democratic Party, which was a pioneer, is also undergoing crustal movement.
The party's Osaka prefectural parliament voted for the voting of the draft agreement at the statutory council.
Ryo Harada, the secretary-general of the prefectural assembly, insists that he will take an unprecedented position.
"Rather than the opposite full commitment, it should go Kumito' the will of the people. Because also there are opponents and proponents to Fugi team, listening to their views, ask want to deepen the understanding of the system while comparing"
by lawmakers "Some people think it's a profit or loss for their election. The reality is that we are desperate to protect our own ground while we are fighting against the Meiji Restoration," he said.
On the other hand, the Osaka City Council, which is based in Osaka City, will continue to oppose it, saying that the discussions are insufficient and there is no merit to the citizens. Hirotoshi Kawashima, deputy secretary-general of the city council, appealed as follows.
“While the infection of the new corona is spreading, is it in a situation where citizens can properly understand the contents of the city plan? I would like you to think whether it is good for citizens to hold a referendum now.”
Repair
On the 16th of July, the LDP-affiliated Liberal Democratic Party Osaka Prefectural Government held an open debate with members of both the pros and cons.
However, the discussion ended in a parallel line.
The proponents argue that "the contents of the draft agreement have been greatly improved after the discussions of the Legal Council. It has advantages for the citizens, such as the unification of wide area administration."
On the other hand, the opponent said, "The essence of the problem is whether the elimination of double administration and the unification of wide area administration can be solved within the current system. No."
Opponents also pointed out that the financial burden was "about 20 billion by the party's estimation, but it was not shown by the statutory council," while the supporters said, "There is concern. Understands a certain amount, but overemphasizes the negative side."
After the end, the proponents argued that "Furen shouldn't give or take their pros and cons", while opponents also said, "I felt like I was talking with a member of the Meiji Restoration." The executives lamented, "I couldn't vent gas."
The government is planning to continue discussions on the unification, but one of the people involved said, "Is it impossible to get together?"
Communist, Ritsuminus oppose
The Communist Party intends to thoroughly oppose it, saying that "it has only disadvantages for citizens."
Tomoko Yamanaka, the leader of the Osaka City Council, said, "Since the new corona continues to be infected, "We will use the power of Osaka City to improve the medical system, etc. Is a big mistake."
The party will work with other political parties and groups that oppose the concept of the city, aiming for a denial of the referendum and strengthening the movement.
The Constitutional Democratic Party has also made clear the opposition, saying that there is a hundred harms and no interest.
Kiyomi Tsujimoto, the party's representative of the Osaka Prefectural Government, said, "We would like to broadly collaborate with those who try to brake on the concept of the city, beyond the factions and positions."
The excitement is
On the other hand, how about the excitement of the city?
In the last referendum, citizens had discussions around Osaka, such as at the venue of street speeches, izakaya, and public baths, and even some people were arguing over the pros and cons. The whole city had a strange atmosphere.
For now, I don't feel the same heat as before.
On the other hand, due to the spread of the new corona infection, there were not enough materials yet for voters to consider the pros and cons of this proposal, such as the scheduled briefing of residents at four locations in the city was canceled. Some point out.
Corona effect cannot be ignored
How do you see the whereabouts of the referendum in Corona?
We spoke to an associate professor at the Kansai Gakuin University School of Law, who specializes in political science.
Will Governor Yoshimura and Mayor Matsui's evaluation of the series of new coronavirus responses lead to a referendum?
"I think that it is the latter if it is strongly related or weakly related to the approval or disapproval of the Tokyo concept. It is a certain division from "Tokyo concept is Tokyo concept, Corona is Corona", so even if it is linked, it is a number. Perhaps there will be fluctuations in percentage, but the pros and cons of the Tokyo concept are fluctuating and continue to compete, and even a few percent cannot be ignored. between the fixed restoration to critical layer and the support layer, a layer that supports the relatively loosely Restoration are present. Do the people if moving is the basic line of decision "
enlargement infection How to deliver the necessary information to the residents
“It is expected that not only politicians but the general public will find it difficult to carry out the same amount of political activity as in the previous referendum. Or, more than that, it is necessary to improve the environment for transmitting information in a safe and secure manner. It is hard to say that the communication infrastructure is currently in place. I think we need to provide more than the last time.''
The future of Osaka
The Osaka Metropolitan Government plan was put into a second referendum while the parties' thoughts were intertwined.
"Life is what change of either" "Do Osaka grow," "benefits to abolish the Osaka City, what's one demerit"
When asked to talk to the citizens, returned a variety of questions.
Only the political themes, which are directly related to the future of Osaka and the daily lives of 2.7 million citizens, will be further sought after in both the pros and cons, showing sufficient judgment materials for the referendum. ..
(Honorific title omitted)