Despite a spate of high court rulings that last year's general election was unconstitutional and even invalid due to large vote disparities, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party doesn't think it is necessary to hold another Lower House campaign as long as it works on election reform, Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday.
And as long as the Diet passes an LDP-sponsored bill to cut five Lower House single-seat districts and bring the total to 295, Ishiba said, the maximum vote value disparity between rural and urban areas will be reduced to less than 2.0 times. This, he maintained, will leave the Diet qualified to discuss and propose constitutional revisions.
"I don't believe it's necessary for (the Lower House) to undergo" another election, Ishiba told reporters without elaborating.