TOKYO - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday proposed a compromise plan that would cut fewer Diet seats than its junior coalition partner seeks and introduce a proportional seat allocation system more favorable to smaller parties.
At a meeting of parties on the electoral system, the LDP proposed cutting 31 proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives based on projected population decline, fewer than the 45 sought by the Japan Innovation Party.
The compromise comes amid opposition resistance to the seat cuts as the ruling coalition seeks to pass the bill before the current Diet session ends in mid-December.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is focused on passing a bill to temporarily reduce the consumption tax on food from 8 percent to 1 percent for two years starting next April, a measure that would also require opposition support.
"October ends next weekend, so we must reach a conclusion next week. I hope each party will discuss it properly and with a sense of urgency," said LDP lawmaker Keisuke Suzuki, who presented the proposal.
A JIP lawmaker said he would "accept the proposal for now," without rejecting it outright.
The seat-cut bill is a top priority for the JIP, which formed a coalition with the LDP about a year ago and has insisted on cutting 45 seats.
In its current form, the bill would automatically cut 45 seats one year after enactment if parties fail to agree on a reduction. It contributed to a parliamentary boycott this summer by opposition parties, which rely on proportional representation lists for many of their seats.
While the LDP and JIP hold a supermajority in the 465-seat lower house, they lack a majority in the Senate, requiring opposition support to pass legislation.
Motohisa Furukawa, acting leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said the LDP's proposals "have aspects that deserve credit."
The DPP has signaled its support for seat cuts based on population decline.
The LDP also proposed changing the way proportional representation seats are allocated to give smaller parties a better chance of winning seats.
Candidates running in both single-seat constituencies and proportional representation races would also need to win at least one-sixth of the valid votes in their constituency, up from the current one-tenth, to remain eligible for a proportional representation seat if they lose their constituency race.
Currently, 289 lower house members are elected from single-seat constituencies and the remaining 176 through proportional representation in 11 regional blocks.
