LDP Less Eager Than JIP on Lower House Seat Cut

Tokyo, April 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are slated to resume later this month working-level talks on cutting the number of the House of Representatives seats by 10 pct.

Last month, the two parties' leaders confirmed a policy of aiming to enact a related bill during the ongoing session of the Diet, the country's parliament.

The LDP is less enthusiastic than the JIP about the matter, however, after it won more than two-thirds of the 465 seats in the all-important lower Diet chamber in the Feb. 8 general election.

The opposition side is also cautious over hasty moves to reduce Lower House seats.

The upcoming talks, the first since December last year, will be attended by those including Katsunobu Kato, chairman of the LDP's Headquarters for Political System Reform, and Yasuto Urano, acting head of the JIP's election strategy committee.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]