LDP OKs Bill to Cut 45 Seats in Lower House

Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday approved a bill to cut the number of proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, by about 10 pct. The bill would automatically eliminate 45 of the 176 proportional representation seats in the 465-seat Lower House if a ruling-opposition panel fails to reach a deal on electoral system reform, including a cut in Lower House seats, within a year. At a joint meeting of the LDP’s general affairs division and political system reform headquarters on Thursday, Katsunobu Kato, chair of the headquarters, said: “This is a bill to advance electoral system reform. To reach a conclusion, we’ll fulfill our responsibility.” The bill stipulates that a ruling-opposition panel consider reducing Lower House seats in light of the country’s declining population. During last year’s extraordinary Diet session, the LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, submitted a bill to reduce 25 constituency seats and 20 proportional representation seats in the Lower House, but it was scrapped. The JIP then proposed cutting 45 proportional representation seats, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed her intention to unify the LDP toward that goal. As reducing only the number of proportional representation seats could affect smaller parties more severely, some in the LDP were cautious of the idea, saying that it could undermine relations with the opposition camp. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]