60 Pct Back Lower House Seat Cut Plan: Jiji Poll

Tokyo, Nov. 13 (Jiji Press)–About 60 pct of respondents support a proposal by Japan’s ruling camp for a 10 pct cut in the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) agreed to the reduction as part of their coalition deal reached last month. Nippon Ishin regards the reduction as a requirement for the coalition. The poll found that 49.4 pct believe the reduction should center on proportional representation seats and that 10.9 pct call for mainly reducing constituency seats. Those who opposed the seat cut plan accounted for 12.9 pct, while 26.8 pct said they have no idea. Nippon Ishin supporters showed the highest level of approval, with 79.4 pct seeking the reduction. Only 5.9 pct opposed the plan. Of LDP supporters, 73.2 pct backed the proposed reduction while 9.7 pct were not in favor of the plan. Japanese Communist Party supporters showed the highest level of disapproval, with 54.5 pct against the reduction. A majority of Lower House members of the party have been elected under the proportional representation system. The disapproval rate stood at 23.8 pct among supporters of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and at 21.1 pct among those of Komeito, which left the coalition with the LDP last month. Of the overall respondents, 60.2 pct supported the idea of reducing the consumption tax rate on food to zero for a limited time, while 23.8 pct opposed it. Nippon Ishin seeks to reduce the tax to zero for two years, but the LDP remains cautious about such a cut. The poll showed 56.9 pct think that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should aim to increase rice production as her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, did, while 18.7 pct do not think so. Among farmers, 64.3 pct supported the increase in production, while 14.3 pct did not. The interview survey was conducted for four days through Monday with 2,000 people aged 18 or older nationwide. Valid responses were received from 59.1 pct. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]