INTERVIEW: Law Eyed on Framework for Lower House Seat Reduction

Tokyo, Nov. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese ruling party executive Shunichi Suzuki has said he aims for the enactment during the current session of the Diet, or parliament, of a bill to set a framework for reducing House of Representatives seats. The bill should at least include such core factors as the deadline for achieving the cut, the Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general said in an interview with Jiji Press, adding that it is difficult to pass a detailed bill with support from various parties during the ongoing extraordinary Diet session, scheduled to end Dec. 17. The LDP and its new coalition partner, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), have agreed to slash the number of Lower House seats by 10 pct. Suzuki vowed to realize the 10 pct cut by winning support from many parties, citing high support for such a move in opinion polls. The LDP heavyweight also said he thinks that Yoshihiko Noda, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, basically supports the idea of reducing Lower House seats, noting that Noda proposed cutting 45 seats in the chamber in the past. There are currently 465 seats in the all-important lower chamber–289 single-member constituency seats and 176 proportional representation seats. Asked how to balance active fiscal spending and fiscal reconstruction, Suzuki said that the government needs to take the lead in investing in growth areas such as semiconductors and quantum technology in order to avoid a repeat of the stagnation Japan suffered in the past 30 years. It is feasible to make necessary investment while maintaining fiscal discipline, Suzuki said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]