The Cabinet's decision last week to approve the redrawing of Japan's electoral map by eliminating one Lower House district from each of six prefectures (Aomori, Iwate, Mie, Nara, Kumamoto and Kagoshima) is the central government's response to a declining population that is increasingly concentrated in urban areas and to the vote disparity between rural voters and city dwellers.
The changes in the single-seat electoral districts, which were submitted to the Diet, reflect a panel's recommendations to the prime minister last month.
"I will do my best to pass the legislation at the earliest date to rectify vote disparities," internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi, who is in charge of drafting the legislation, told a news conference on May 16.
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