Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)--Political jockeying over a bill to reduce the number of proportional representation seats in Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, is expected to intensify.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are aiming to launch Lower House deliberations on the bill as early as Tuesday and pass it through the chamber within this month.

Opposition parties, except the Democratic Party for the People, are preparing to mount strong resistance to the bill.

The expected standoff may affect deliberations in the Senate, the upper Diet chamber formerly called the House of Councillors, on a bill to cut the consumption tax rate on food and beverage products from 8 pct to 1 pct for two years from April 2027, leaving the ruling bloc struggling to manage the situation.

In talks with reporters Friday, Keitaro Ono of the LDP, the ruling side's leader of the board of the Lower House's special committee on political reform, stressed his party's intention to launch deliberations as soon as possible.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its Japan Innovation Party ally and the opposition Democratic Party for the People jointly submit a bill to shed 31 proportional representation seats from the House of Representatives to the Lower House on Thursday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]