1.Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, on Friday submitted a bill to the House of Representatives that proposes a 10 percent cut in the number of parliamentary seats, though its fate is uncertain due to objections from opposition parties.
2.The coalition holds a razor-thin majority in the lower chamber but is in the minority in the House of Councillors. To pass the bill, it needs to win the votes of opposition parties for a simple majority in the upper house, or win two-thirds support in the lower chamber in a second vote.
3.As a key political reform effort, a reduction in lower house seats was a precondition for the JIP, known as Nippon Ishin, to form a coalition with the LDP led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister on Oct. 21.
4.Later, the LDP, which has held power almost continuously since its foundation in 1955, parted ways with its two-decade ally, the Komeito party. The political party backed by Japan’s largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai, has opposed the seat reduction.
5.The bill pledges to cut more than 45 seats from the 465-member lower chamber, calling for discussions at a consultative body between the ruling and opposition blocs to hammer out the details and consider other fundamental reforms to the existing electoral system.
6.If no conclusion on the details is reached within a year after the law takes effect, 25 of the current 289 single-seat constituencies and 20 of 176 seats chosen through proportional representation would be trimmed, the bill says.
・If you were a member of the opposition party (like the CDP), what would be your strongest argument against this specific seat reduction plan?
7.The move met objections from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito. The CDPJ, headed by former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, is dissatisfied that the number of seats will be decided without Diet deliberations.
8.The two parties also question the grounds for the 10 percent cut, which center mainly on Japan’s projected population decline, while arguing that a previously submitted bill to tighten the political funds control law should be debated first.
9.Former Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, who leads the LDP’s headquarters on electoral system reforms, told reporters after submitting the bill that the ruling camp will provide sufficient explanation to gain a “broad understanding.”
