As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, the tripartite ruling bloc and the opposition forces squared off over a proposal to cut the number of Lower House seats. With a dissolution of the Lower House for a snap election looming, sharp rivalry is brewing between the coalition, made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito, and the opposition camp, consisting of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party.
Despite the turbulence, the ruling and opposition forces agreed to set up panels in both Houses for debating the pros and cons of constitutional amendments.
This is the first time in four decades that formal debate on the Constitution will be conducted, after discussions by the Cabinet's Commission on the Constitution (1957-64) set up under of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. Debate on constitutional amendments had been considered taboo amid heated ideological confrontations between the LDP and the now-defunct Japan Socialist Party since 1955. The establishment of the new Diet panels is highly significant in Japanese political history.