July 9 & 10, 2026

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party on July 8 announced that they will abandon efforts to pass a bill to reduce the number of proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives during the current session of the Diet, instead carrying it over for further deliberation.

Opposition parties in both Houses of the Diet joined forces to counter the reckless conduct in Diet proceedings by the ruling parties which undermines parliamentary democracy, and were thus able to prevent the bill’s passage in this session for the time being.

The following day, Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko held a press conference in the Diet building and stated, “Heeding the voices of the general public, we in the opposition will continue to unite and do our utmost until this bill is completely withdrawn.”

The ruling coalition sought to pass the bill as outlined in the LDP-Ishin coalition’s founding agreement, and forced the start of Diet deliberations without the presence of opposition parties. Tamura criticized this manner of conducting Diet proceedings as a blatant infringement on parliamentary democracy. She also criticized the bill itself for disregarding the will of the people since it slashes the number of parliamentary seats in proportional representation blocs where “wasted votes” are minimal.

The JCP chair pointed out that many newspapers critically discussed the bill as well as the ruling party’s disregard for the opposition parties in the context of Diet debate, and that many citizens and organizations also protested. She stated, “The fact that they had to shelve the bill this time demonstrates that the people have the power to stop outrageous acts, no matter how large their majority may be in the Diet.”

Past related articles:
> It’s the ruling coalition that is causing stalemate in Diet [July 2, 2026]
> LDP-‘Ishin’ coalition forcibly begins Diet deliberations on bill to reduce number of Lower House seats [June 30, 2026]