Talks between the ruling and opposition parties on reform of the Lower House electoral system have made little headway. Lawmakers should feel a sense of urgency and give priority to quickly correcting the disparity in the value of votes between constituencies of different populations, before the next general election. To date, vote-value disparity remains so wide as to undermine the principle of equality under the Constitution.
The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling alliance and the opposition parties — with the exception of the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party — agree on the need to reduce the number of Lower House members under the current electoral system combining single-seat districts with proportional representation. But they remain far apart on how to accomplish this task.
The issue is complicated by the parties' discussing of two subjects at the same time. The LDP calls for reducing 180 proportional representation seats by 30 and introducing a special quota that benefits smaller parties — for the sake of New Komeito.
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