The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected a suit filed last week by lawyers seeking an injunction against next month’s general election because of the vote-value disparity, which the Supreme Court has rules is in “a state of unconstitutionality.”
“There are no (applicable) provisions of laws, so the lawsuit itself is unlawful,” the district court said in handing down its decision.
Presiding Judge Yutaka Kawakami said he can fully understand the plaintiffs’ intention to prevent an election whose vote-value disparity is effectively illegal, but noted that allowing the injunction could cause more problems, including stalling national politics.
The lawyers filed the suit against the state last Friday, when Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the Lower House to hold the Dec. 16 general election. They said they will appeal the ruling to the Tokyo High Court.
In March last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the disparity of up to 2.3 to 1 in the weight of votes between the least- and most-populous constituencies in the House of Representatives election in 2009 was “in a state of unconstitutionality.”
In the suit, the lawyers are demanding that the Cabinet not give the advice and approval required for acts of the Emperor to proclaim the House of Representatives election.