The Liberal Democratic Party began full-fledged debate Thursday on a bill to grant local-level suffrage to foreign residents of Japan, but some 80 percent of the lawmakers involved in the debate oppose the legislation.
Masaaki Nakayama, head of the LDP's internal panel on electoral systems, admitted the likelihood of the bill being passed by the end of the year is slim, as New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, the LDP's coalition partners, had been hoping.
It will be difficult to get the bill passed during the current Diet session, he told reporters after Thursday's meeting, adding that many LDP members oppose the legislation.