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LDP and Ishin Agree on 10 Percent Cut to Lower House Seats

TOKYO - The Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin have agreed on a framework to ensure the effectiveness of legislation aimed at reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives, deciding that if no conclusion is reached within one year, roughly 10 percent of seats across both single-member districts and proportional representation blocs will be cut.

Under the direction settled by the two parties, the reduction would be based on 25 seats from single-member districts and 20 from proportional representation. Ishin had previously insisted that if no agreement was reached within a year, 50 proportional representation seats alone should be eliminated, but that proposal drew strong opposition from other parties.

LDP leader Takai and Ishin leader Yoshimura further confirmed their agreement to cut Lower House seats by about 10 percent as a fallback measure to guarantee the effectiveness of the bill they plan to submit to the current Diet session. Both parties will now move toward drafting legislation centered on reducing 25 single-member district seats and 20 proportional representation seats.

Source: テレ東BIZ

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