LDP Mulls Proposal to Automatically Cut 45 Lower House Seats

Tokyo, June 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is looking at a proposal to automatically reduce the number of proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives if a ruling-opposition panel fails to reach a deal within a year. The proposal, which would cut 45 of the 176 proportional representation seats in the 465-seat Lower House, was presented by Katsunobu Kato, chair of the party’s political system reform headquarters, at the day’s meeting of the headquarters. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also LDP president, and Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s junior coalition party, have agreed to seek the enactment of a bill to reduce Lower House seats by the July 17 end of the ongoing Diet session. Based on the JIP’s claims, Takaichi has instructed the party to build consensus on cutting 45 proportional representation seats. During the headquarters meeting, Kato sought understanding for his proposal, saying that a reduction of constituency seats, instead of proportional representation seats, could prevent local voices from reaching the Diet. One participant said that reducing proportional representation seats, rather than constituency seats, would be more compelling. Another participant said that a Lower House seat cut should be implemented because it was a campaign pledge in the last Lower House election. Meanwhile, former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya expressed concern that discussing only a reduction of proportional representation seats could draw a backlash from opposition parties supporting a Lower House seat cut. A reduction of proportional representation seats could impact smaller parties more severely. At a meeting of their Diet affairs chiefs on Tuesday, three opposition parties–the Centrist Reform Alliance, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito–reaffirmed their opposition to cutting only proportional representation seats. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]