October 21, 2025

Liberal Democratic Party President Takaichi Sanae and “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party co-head Yoshimura Hirofumi on October 20 agreed to form a coalition government, and signed an agreement on policy agenda which includes a 10% cut in the number of seats in the House of Representatives, adverse revision of the Constitution and social welfare programs, and military expansion.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira later on the day at a press conference said that the party will squarely confront the promotion of anti-people policies by the LDP-Ishin coalition. In particular, he said that the JCP will make all-out efforts to block the new coalition force’s move to achieve the 10% cut in the number of proportional representation seats in the Lower House during an extraordinary Diet session slated to be convened on October 21.

Koike criticized the LDP-Ishin’s attempt to reduce seats by saying, “Cuts in the number of Diet seats will diminish people’s right to have their voices heard by the national government and will weaken parliamentary oversight, the most important function of the Diet.” The JCP Secretariat Head cited that the current number of seats in the Lower House, 465, is the lowest level since universal suffrage was introduced in 1925 and that among the 38 OECD member countries, Japan ranked the third from the bottom in terms of the number of national legislators. He said that Japan has fewer parliamentarians compared to international standards, adding that there is no rational ground for reducing the number of Diet seats.

Koike pointed out that slashing the number of proportional representation seats will lead to the weakening and possible demise of minor parties, which will make it even more difficult to reflect diverse public opinion. He said, “The electoral system is the foundation of democracy. The JCP will put all its efforts to increase public awareness of the need to block the LDP-Ishin coalition’s move toward parliamentary downsizing which disregards public opinion and destroys democracy as we now know it.”

Koike stressed that as the Komei and other parties voice their opposition to the reduction in the number of proportional representation seats, the JCP sees a possibility of making joint efforts with these parties in the Diet. He said, “Beyond the political differences, we will explore ways to work together with other parties on the single point of protecting parliamentary democracy.”