Photo/Illutration Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito at the Hyogo prefectural government’s office in Kobe’s Chuo Ward on Sept. 12 (Yoshinori Mizuno)

KOBE--Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito remained defiant amid growing calls for his resignation and a looming no-confidence motion against him in the prefectural assembly.

The Liberal Democratic Party, representing the largest group in the assembly, decided on Sept. 12 to submit the no-confidence motion against Saito on Sept. 19, the opening day of the regular assembly.

The motion is expected to be submitted jointly with four other groups and independent assembly members, meaning passage and adoption are certain.

Saito, who has been accused of power harassment and corruption, would then be forced to choose between dissolving the assembly or losing his position within 10 days.

On Sept. 12, he repeated his intention to remain in office.

“As for me, a major point of trust from the people of the prefecture is that I will continue to serve my four-year term,” he told reporters.

Asked how he would respond if the no-confidence motion is passed, the governor, who was elected in 2021, said, “There are various options available to me under the law, and I will consider them carefully.”

Saito came under fire in March, when a senior prefectural government official accused him and his aides of bullying subordinates and receiving goods from businesses.

The official reported the case under the prefectural government’s whistleblowing system in April.

But the prefectural government did not protect the official as a whistleblower and suspended him for three months based on its in-house investigation in May.

The official was found dead in July in an apparent suicide.

At meetings of the prefectural assembly’s special investigation committee looking into the scandal, Saito said there were no legal problems with the procedures of the prefectural government.

Unsatisfied with the governor’s explanation, Ishin no Kai, the second largest group in the assembly, on Sept. 9 demanded that Saito resign and call a gubernatorial election.

Ishin no Kai is affiliated with Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

All assembly members of other parties and unaffiliated members echoed that resignation demand on Sept. 12. The parties included the LDP, Komeito, Hyogo Kenmin Rengo, which consists of members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party.

At a general meeting of LDP assembly members on Sept. 12, senior members proposed a schedule to pass the supplementary budget on Sept. 19 and then immediately submit the no-confidence motion against Saito.

Komeito and Hyogo Kenmin Rengo agreed to submit the no-confidence motion jointly with the LDP. The JCP and unaffiliated assembly members are also expected to join them.

Ishin no Kai on Sept. 12 said it will discuss the possibility of co-sponsoring the no-confidence motion with the LDP and other groups.

Passage of a no-confidence motion requires support from three-fourth of assembly members present at the meeting. In Saito’s case, all members and all groups plan to vote in favor of the motion.

Saito could dissolve the assembly if the no-confidence motion is passed. However, he would lose his post if another no-confidence motion against him is passed at a new assembly meeting attended by more than two-thirds of members.

If Saito dissolves the assembly, the cost to hold a prefectural assembly election would be about 1.6 billion yen ($11.4 million), according to the prefectural election commission secretariat.

If the governor loses his post, the cost for a gubernatorial election would be about 1.8 billion yen, it added.

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