The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito on June 24 succeeding in getting a law enacted that will reapportion Lower House seats to rectify the disparity in single-seat constituency vote values between depopulated rural areas and populous urban ones.
Acting as an impetus for the new law were 16 high court rulings that determined that the Dec. 16, 2012, Lower House election was either unconstitutional or "in a state of unconstitutionality" because of the vote disparity. Unfortunately, the law, which will trim one Lower House seat in each of five prefectures, is merely a makeshift measure. It is regrettable that the LDP, Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan have reneged on their November 2012 agreement to drastically reform the Lower House election system by June 26, the end of the Diet session. These parties should make good on their promise.
Both the ruling and opposition parties gave priority to partisan interests without trying to work out effective reform of the election system. Sixty days after the Lower House had passed the bill and sent it to the opposition-controlled Upper House, a vote in the Upper House was still pending. So, on Monday, the ruling coalition in the Lower House enacted the bill, invoking the Constitution's Article 59, which allows a two-thirds Lower House majority to enact legislation if the Upper House has not acted on it within 60 days.