Wakayama Mayor Masahiro Obana has come out against a referendum on the Japanese prefecture’s planned IR development. According to Inside Asian Gaming, he said it would be too expensive and irrelevant, as the vote is not legally binding.
A citizens’ group known as the Wakayama Resident’s Group for Questioning the IR Bid recently submitted a petition demanding a referendum. It contained 20,039 signatures, representing around 6.5 percent of the city’s voting population. It “far exceeded the 2 percent, or 6,200 signatures required to take such action,” IAG reported.
By law, Obana must call a city council meeting within 20 days of accepting the petition. A referendum would only go ahead if passed by the council.
Wakayama is one of three locations planning to submit a bid for IR development to the central government by the deadline of April 28. Last June, it chose a consortium headed by Clairvest Neem Ventures as its preferred operator partner. Since then, U.S. casino giant Caesars Entertainment announced it will participate as casino operator if the bid is approved. Caesars will provide no capital investment.
In January 2021, an anti-IR group submitted a petition for an IR referendum in Yokohama with 190,000 signatures, three times the required number. The proposal was dismissed by the city council, but Yokohama bowed out of the competition with the election of an anti-IR mayor, Takeharu Yamanaka.
