Ruling Bloc Gives Up on Early Passage of Diet Seat Cut Bill

Tokyo, Dec. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling parties have given up on enacting a bill to reduce the number of House of Representatives seats before the current extraordinary session of the Diet ends on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the LDP’s coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai), met in the Diet and agreed that they will now aim for the bill’s passage during the next ordinary Diet session, which starts in January. The ruling parties decided against extending the extraordinary session because an extension would not guarantee the bill’s enactment due to criticism from opposition parties. At a press conference after the meeting, Takaichi said that the ruling bloc will work together to reach a conclusion without fail in a Lower House panel on reducing Lower House seats, based on the new census results to be published next year. “We agreed to realize (a cut in Lower House seats) during the ordinary session,” Yoshimura said. While the ruling bloc has sought early deliberations on the seat reduction bill, opposition parties have demanded that deliberations on three bills regarding rules on political donations by companies and organizations be prioritized. “We can’t find a schedule for enactment (of the seat cut bill),” LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki said at a press conference on Tuesday. When joining the LDP-led ruling bloc, the JIP demanded a cut in the number of Lower House seats as an “absolute condition.” Their coalition agreement in October stated that they would submit a related bill and seek to enact it during the extraordinary session. Based on the agreement, the ruling parties this month submitted a bill that would automatically cut 25 constituency seats and 20 proportional representation seats in the 465-seat Lower House if the ruling and opposition camps fail to reach a conclusion on the issue within a year. The JIP had threatened to leave the ruling bloc if the seat cut bill would not be enacted during the extraordinary session. However, Yoshimura suggested at the press conference that his party had no choice but to accept a delay as deliberations on the bill have not yet begun. Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Takaichi and Yoshimura reaffirmed their commitment to establishing a national intelligence bureau to oversee the intelligence activities of ministries and agencies, based on the coalition deal. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]