New Proposal of 31 Reduction in Lower House

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) proposed reduction of 31 seats in the Lower House as a reform of the Diet on October 22nd. Although the party had been supporting the idea of its coalition partner, Japan Innovation Party, to reduce 10 percent, or 45 seats, in the proportional district in the Lower House, it revised its proposal, having faced protests from opposition parties. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) found the proposal to be understandable. 

Based on agreement in October 2025, the LDP and JIP sponsored a bill to reduce 45 seats in proportional district of the Lower House. But the opposition parties have been strongly opposed the bill, because it would badly affect small parties. Since the Diet has an unwritten rule that parties would make utmost effort to reach an overwhelming consensus on reduction of the seats of Houses, the LDP did not push the bill too much. However, the JIP persists seat reduction, believing it as an important item for political reform.

 

LDP chief on this issue, Keisuke Suzuki, put a new proposal on the table of multi-partisan discussion in the Diet. It was reduction of 31 seats in proportional district in the Lower House instead of 45. 31 seats consist 6.6 percent of all the 465 seats in the Lower House. Suzuki argued that the percentage represented decline of population of Japan from 2015 to 2030.

 

The population of Japan in 2015 was 127 million and an estimation in 2030 is 116 million. The ratio of decline is 8.7 percent. Reduction of 31 seats is not equivalent with the decline of population or does not fulfill agreement between LDP and JIP. The JIP is not satisfied with the proposal. The reduction based on decline of population was originally proposed by the DPP. It is likely that the LDP has accepted the concept of the DPP to secure the majority in the Upper House.

 

However, reduction of seats only in proportional district still does not make sense in terms of proportion. When current election system in the Lower House, a mixture of single-seat constituencies and proportional representation, was introduced in 1994, there were 300 single-seat districts and 200 seats for the proportional. This 3-to-2 ratio has approximately been maintained by now. Reduction of 31 seats only in the proportional destroys this ratio. Komeito opposes the proposal with this reason.

 

The LDP also proposed raising threshold of required votes for resurrection of a loser in single-seat district through proportional district from one-tenth of viable votes to one-sixth. The party also demanded a new rule that a party does not give seats away, if it wins seats beyond its nominations of candidates in the slate. The seats will thus be kept vacant. In the Lower House election in February, the LDP gave some seats away, because it won the seats more than its candidates in its slate.

 

Reduction of seats in the Diet is not an urgent agada for the Diet, anyway. The LDP is serious about it to maintain support from the JIP. This is highly partisan politics.

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