December 18, 2025

The House of Representatives at its plenary meeting on December 17 by majority vote decided to carry over a bill to cut the number of House members, which was introduced by the Liberal Democratic and “Nippon Ishin no Kai” parties, to the next Diet session. The Japanese Communist Party opposed the carry-over decision and called for the bill to be scrapped.

At a House of Representatives Steering Committee meeting earlier on the day, JCP lawmaker Shiokawa Tetsuya said, “Cuts in Lower House seats will prevent diverse public opinions from being heard in the Diet and weaken the Diet’s oversight function. Such a move is outrageous as it negates the essence of a parliamentary democracy.” He criticized the LDP and the Ishin party for pushing for the downsizing of the Lower House on the Diet and on the general public. He said that their extremely selfish attempt is unacceptable and demanded that the bill be withdrawn immediately.

The ruling coalition sought to enact the bill in the extraordinary Diet session. However, opposition parties jointly fought back against the ruling block’s move, which blocked the launch of Diet deliberations on the bill.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, who is also the LDP President, and Ishin party head Yoshimura Hirofumi at their meeting on December 16 agreed to give up on the passage of the bill by the end of the current Diet session. PM Takaichi at a press conference after the meeting said, “We will work together to reach a conclusion next year.”

Past related article:
> JCP opposes cuts of 20 Lower House seats from proportional representation and 25 from single-member districts: Tamura [December 3 & 5, 2025]