A group of Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers is drafting a bill that would give foreign nationals with permanent residence status the right to vote in local elections. They plan to gear up after the Golden Week holidays and submit the bill during the current session of the Diet.
Giving foreign permanent residents voting rights in local elections is a controversial issue that surfaces in Japanese politics from time to time without resolution, mostly due to the strong opposition of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
But the DPJ, which has raised the issue a few times over the past decade since the party was established in 1998, wants to press the advantage it gained in the Upper House election last July.