Deliberations have finally begun on a bill that would pave the way for casino gambling to be legalized in Japan.

Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) met last Wednesday in a lower-house committee of the Diet to discuss the long-stalled IR Promotion bill. Key LDP officials are hoping to enact the bill before the current parliamentary session ends on December 14, Japan Times reported.

LDP Diet affairs chairman Wataru Takeshita told reporters the party wants to have the bill passed through the committee by Friday, and then voted on during a plenary session of the chamber on December 6.

The party had been trying to get the support of its coalition party, Komeito, whose members had raised concerns that the move could worsen the gambling addiction problem or compromise public safety in the country. However, Komeito has also signaled that it is not opposed to debate on the bill. In fact, Wednesday’s deliberations saw “minimal opposition” from Komeito members, a lawmaker said.