All assembly members of Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, are set to unanimously vote for a non-confidence motion against the prefectural governor on Thursday.
Governor Saito Motohiko has been facing allegations of power harassment and other misconduct.
All 86 assembly members, including independents, are seeking the immediate resignation of Saito. If he rejects their demand, they plan to submit a no-confidence motion against him on Thursday, the first day of the assembly’s regular session.
On Tuesday, the representatives of all voting groups in the assembly, including the Liberal Democratic Party and “Ishin no kai” or innovation party, met with the assembly steering committee chief to discuss what to do on Thursday.
They agreed that all voting groups and independent members, after the approval on supplementary budgets, will jointly submit a no-confidence motion against Saito.
They also confirmed that they will aim to unanimously vote for the motion on the day.
If the motion is adopted, the governor is required whether to dissolve the prefectural assembly or choose to lose is position.
Saito has reiterated he will decide how to respond in line with the law, hinting that he will study dissolving the assembly.
In March, the then-chief of the Hyogo prefectural government’s Nishi-Harima bureau released a document on cases of alleged harassment committed by Saito.
The official was reprimanded after an internal investigation concluded a core part of the document was false.
The matter sparked a controversy over whether the disciplined official should have been protected by law as a whistleblower for the sake of the public interest.
The prefectural assembly set up a special committee to look into the case.
The official was found dead in July just before he was scheduled to be summoned for questioning at the committee. Police think he committed suicide.