Japan's LDP Mulls Cutting 45 Lower House PR Seats

Tokyo, June 4 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering cutting 45 proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, a senior LDP official said Thursday.

At a meeting of the LDP's Headquarters for Political System Reform, LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki said that Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi had instructed him to build consensus within the party on reducing Lower House seats through cuts to proportional representation seats.

While most attendees backed the plan, the LDP decided to continue discussion out of consideration for dissenting opinions.

"There are concerns that local voices could be lost amid population decline," Suzuki said, referring to possible cuts in single-seat constituencies. "I would like to invite discussion on cutting 45 proportional representation seats," he added.

In Thursday's meeting, many LDP lawmakers voiced support for the proposal to cut proportional representation seats, saying it is undesirable to further reduce constituency seats in regional areas.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]