OSAKA -- Voters in Osaka City narrowly rejected the Osaka metropolis plan Sunday in a second referendum in five years on whether the city should be replaced by four special wards.

The second rejection of the Osaka metropolis plan dealt a heavy blow to Nippon Ishin no Kai, depriving the party of its signature issue and forcing its leader to contemplate retiring from politics.

Could the drastic alteration of a region's administrative framework be a reform that leads to regional development? It can be said that such a plan failed to sufficiently present local residents with a clear view of its effects and future prospects.

During the current Diet session, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to concentrate on the passage of a bill to revise the law on a national referendum on constitutional amendment, which will simplify the voting procedures for revising the top law.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has actively joined the political world again with plans to use his connections with foreign leaders to support Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

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