New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki on Tuesday opposed plans by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, to submit to the Diet today a bill seeking to cut 50 Lower House seats.
The LDP and Liberal Party agreed in January to reduce the number of proportional-representation seats in the 500-seat Lower House to 150 from the current 200 as one of the conditions for launching the coalition government.
Although submission of the bill had been delayed because of opposition from New Komeito, with which the LDP and Liberal Party are hoping to form an alliance, the coalition partners agreed last week to submit the bill today.
"We are discussing electoral reforms now at an interparty panel, thus we have to reach a conclusion through panel discussions," Kanzaki said at a news conference.
New Komeito opposes the LDP-Liberal Party bill because more than half of its Lower House members were elected through proportional representation.
Kanzaki added that New Komeito supports a bill for legally recognizing the Hinomaru as the national flag and "Kimigayo" (His Majesty's Reign) as the national anthem.
He said the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" have been recognized by many Japanese as the national flag and anthem under the postwar Constitution.
"We recognize that there is debate about legislating them but making them law is one approach," Kanzaki told reporters.