Liberal Democratic Party approves draft article to reduce the number of seats in the House of Representatives, proportional reduction by 45, Ishin agrees

On the 11th, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) approved a draft article regarding reducing the number of members of the House of Representatives at a joint committee meeting of the party's Political System Reform Headquarters (headed by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato). It included a provision that would automatically reduce the number of proportional representation seats by 45 seats if no conclusion could be reached at the Electoral System Council, which is attended by all factions in the House of Representatives. The Japan Restoration Party also approved the same bill at its meeting on the same day. The two parties will jointly submit a bill soon, but the opposition parties are opposed to it, and it is unlikely that it will be enacted during the current Diet session.

The bill stipulates that the ruling and opposition parties established under the Speaker of the House of Representatives will discuss electoral system reform and how to reduce the number of voters, and that the necessary legislation will be put in place within one year after the law goes into effect. If legislation based on the council's discussions is not implemented within the deadline, the proportional quorum will be reduced by 45 seats from the current 176 to 131, which will then be applied from the first House of Representatives election.

In addition, if it becomes necessary to review single-seat constituencies in future talks between the ruling and opposition parties, measures will be taken such as extending the deadline for the House of Representatives Election Delimitation Council to compile recommendations by May next year. The constant number of each block after proportional reduction will be determined in a separate bill.

At the Liberal Democratic Party meeting, some pointed out that ``a sufficient explanation may be needed'' regarding the proportional reduction of 45 seats. After the meeting, Mr. Kato expressed his intention to aim for the bill to be enacted during the current Diet session, but opposition parties such as the Centrist Reform Alliance and the Democratic Party of the People have expressed opposition across the board, and there is no hope that the bill will be enacted before the end of the session. [Satoru Suzuki, Hitoshi Sonobe]