Japan Press Weekly

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2026 October 21 - 27 TOP3 [POLITICS]

LDP as compromise proposes to opposition parties a reduction of 31 Lower House seats

The Liberal Democratic Party on October 22 presented the opposition parties with a compromise proposal to reduce the number of proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives by 31.

Currently, all opposition parties oppose the bill to cut 45 seats, which was submitted to the Diet by the LDP and its coalition partner, the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party.

At an interparty negotiation on the Lower House electoral system, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Shiokawa Tetsuya opposed both the 45-seat cut and the 31-seat cut, stating, “Cutting the number of Dietmembers silences the voices of the people as the nation’s sovereigns and disregards the diversity of public opinion.”

He noted that the number of parliamentary seats in Japan is low by international standards, and stressed the need to restore the current Lower House seat count of 465 to the previous 500.

Past related article:
> Rally held to oppose proposed bill cutting the number of Lower House seats [October 7, 2026]