Osaka political party pushes for major government restructuring

The Japan Innovation Party is advancing its Osaka Metropolis plan, which would merge the city and prefecture governments, and is also proposing to drastically reduce the prefectural assembly from 79 to 29 seats. The party's city council members strongly oppose a proposal to expand the required referendum for the plan to the entire prefecture instead of just Osaka city. Other local news includes a separate court case and a police officer's indictment.