Discussions for reforming the Upper House election system to narrow the sharp disparity in the value of votes among districts remain deplorably slow. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party continues to drag its feet in the effort to fix a problem that has been ruled to be "in a state of unconstitutionality" by the Supreme Court. All parties and lawmakers involved in the effort need to realize that the 2012 amendment to the election law that they enacted mandates fundamental reform in time for the next triennial Upper House election in 2016.

During talks last week with representatives from other parties, the LDP said it won't rule out the idea of combining some of the prefecture-based Upper House districts to narrow the vote-value gap, although it reiterated its basic position that the problem should be addressed by adding two seats each to three electoral districts while cutting two each from three other constituencies. The LDP's junior coalition partner, Komeito, responded by withdrawing its earlier proposal for dividing the nation into 11 large multiple-seat districts, raising hopes for negotiations within the ruling alliance for a proposal that might provide the basis for an agreement with the opposition camp.

But consensus remains elusive even within the LDP, with opposition still strong against redrawing constituencies across prefectural borders, especially from among lawmakers elected from districts that might be combined with others. Kensei Mizote, chairman of the LDP's Upper House caucus, said during the talks with other parties that the LDP will seek to preserve the prefecture-based constituencies as much as possible. The problem is that it's impossible to fundamentally close the huge gap in the value of votes unless the prefecture-based system is changed.