Opposition is already brewing within the Liberal Democratic Party against a proposal compiled by a panel of experts tasked with reforming the Lower House electoral system — even before it is to be formally submitted to the speaker of the Lower House next month. At issue is the reallocation of Lower House seats across the 47 prefectures to narrow the sharp disparity in the value of votes between populous and less-populous electoral districts.
The LDP holds a dominant presence in many of the prefectures that face cuts to their Lower House seats in the proposed reform, and objections from within the party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spells trouble for the proposed reform. All lawmakers in the Diet, however, should realize that further inaction is not acceptable, since discussions for electoral reform were put in the hands of the expert panel under the Lower House speaker after talks among political parties to resolve the issue went nowhere.
An overhaul of the Lower House electoral system is urgently needed, given that the maximum gap in the value of votes between constituencies in electing representatives to the Lower House has been ruled as being "in a state of unconstitutionality" by the Supreme Court for the last three general elections in a row, although the top court fell short of invalidating the vote results. In the last election in December 2014, a vote in the least populous single-seat constituency carried 2.13 times more power in electing a lawmaker than a vote cast in the most populous district. It is indeed a grave issue that distorts representation of popular will in the Diet and runs counter to equality stipulated in Article 14 of the Constitution.