The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is likely to shelve or vote down Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's nomination of his former secretary as vice governor, political sources said Friday.
Ishihara submitted choices for three vice governor slots at a meeting of the assembly's steering committee Thursday. The names included Takeo Hamauzu, 51, who served as secretary to Ishihara when the governor was a Lower House member.
Most committee members said Friday that Hamauzu's ability to handle metropolitan administration is "unknown."
It is highly likely that Ishihara's nomination of Hamauzu will be disapproved or shelved in an extraordinary assembly session scheduled for Monday, the sources said.
Ishihara's two other choices for vice governor are Masamichi Fukunaga, 57, chief of the Tokyo Public Cleansing Bureau, and Yasushi Aoyama, 55, director of the Policy and Information Bureau.
Among major political groups, the 18 assembly members from the Liberal Democratic Party of Tokyo, a major local LDP faction, are said to be siding with Ishihara and are supporting all three of the governor's nominees.
But Hamauzu's nomination has met opposition from other LDP factions as well as from the Japanese Communist Party, New Komeito and Democratic Party of Japan.
During the Monday session, Fukunaga's appointment is expected to be approved, but some groups may vote against Aoyama, the sources said.