Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday pledged to slash 10 seats in the House of Representatives sooner than his party has proposed.

Abe told the lower chamber's powerful Budget Committee that a reduction of 10 Lower House seats will be implemented based on the findings of the preliminary 2015 national census, due out Feb. 26.

The Liberal Democratic Party has proposed that the seat reductions be postponed at least until the 2020 national census.