Search - proportional-representation

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2003

LDP oldsters to be odd men out come poll time?

The seniority-based ethos in the Liberal Democratic Party is under threat, with the party leaders putting an upper age limit on the selection of some candidates for the next House of Representatives election.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2002

Diet clears the way to redraw electoral districts

The Diet passed a bill Wednesday aimed at redrawing electoral districts in an effort to correct the imbalance in the value of votes cast in rural and urban areas.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Mori fights criticism during Diet debate

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was forced to fight back Wednesday as opposition leaders urged him to resign during a terse Diet debate that centered on the latest in a growing string of gaffes.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2000

Opposition parties refuse to attend coalition's debate of corruption bill

The ruling bloc began deliberations in the Lower House on an anticorruption bill Thursday as opposition lawmakers continued their boycott.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

LDP looks to change the rules ahead of Upper House election

Liberal Democratic Party members of the House of Councilors agreed Tuesday to demand that the proportional representation section of the chamber's electoral system be revised so that voters cast ballots for candidates on party lists rather than for the parties themselves, LDP officials said.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2000

Setback for ruling coalition

The June 25 Lower House election ended with a voter turnout of only 62.49 percent. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a sharp setback, with its strength decreasing to 233 seats from a pre-election figure of 271. On the other hand, the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, saw...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2000

LDP snubs own to back ally's man

Kensaku Morita, who before the dissolution of the Lower House was a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, is running as an independent in the Tokyo No. 4 constituency in Sunday's election because of what he calls an "unreasonable" decision by the LDP to back a candidate from one of the party's coalition...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2000

44% of electorate undecided, poll says

Interest in next Sunday's general election has grown over the past week, but 44 percent of voters are still not sure which party to vote for, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

Campaigns begin today for June 25 election

The official campaign period for the June 25 Lower House election kicks off today with nearly 1,400 candidates vying for 480 seats nationwide.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2000

LDP members pass the baton

The general election to be held in June will provide an opportunity for the rejuvenation of the Lower House. About 30 Lower House members have already announced -- or are moving to announce before the election -- their retirement from politics. They cite old age, illness and family reasons for retiring....
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Election reform bill to go to Diet

The six major political parties agreed Wednesday to submit a bill to reform the nation's electoral system to the Diet as early as next week, laying the groundwork for the next general election, which must be held by the autumn.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 1999

LDP stalls on foreign resident suffrage bill

The Liberal Democratic Party told its coalition partners Thursday that it needs time to form a consensus on granting suffrage to permanent foreign residents, and that it will be impossible to submit the bill during the current session, a New Komeito executive said.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 1999

Court rules electoral voting system constitutional

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the current electoral system used by the House of Representatives is constitutional, rejecting claims it violates the basic law for failing to provide equality due in part to disparities in the value of citizens' votes.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999

Extra Diet session to test new triumvirate

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 3, 1999

New Komeito rails against Diet seats bill

New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki warned Tuesday that further Diet deliberations on a bill aimed at cutting 50 proportional representation seats from the Lower House would "seriously affect" his party's upcoming talks on entering the Liberal Democratic Party's ruling coalition.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1999

Panel deliberating bill to cut 50 Diet seats

The Lower House Special Committee on Political Ethics and the Election Law on Tuesday began deliberating a bill aimed at eliminating 50 Lower House seats elected by proportional representation.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

LDP may have to walk political tightrope

Staff writers
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1999

Bill aims to cut 50 Lower House seats

The Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party have agreed to submit a bill to the Diet aimed at cutting 50 Lower House seats elected by proportional representation as early as Wednesday, party officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1999

Fukaya to keep Tokyo seat, give up by-election run

Takashi Fukaya, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's decision-making Executive Council, formally declared Monday he will not run in a House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo slated for April 11.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 1999

New Komeito eyed as coalition takes first test

The regular 150-day Diet session that convenes today will test the effectiveness of the newly launched coalition between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in shaping the nation's politics.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 1998

LDP suffers stunning defeat as disgruntled voters speak up

The Liberal Democratic Party suffered a stunning defeat in Sunday's Upper House election as voters issued an apparent no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's economic policies.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 1997

Ozawa fails to bring Komei membership into Shinshinto fold

Shinshinto President Ichiro Ozawa finally abandoned efforts Friday to persuade Komei leader Tomio Fujii to drop the party's plan to field its own proportional representation candidates in next summer's Upper House election.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Hosokawa denies taking money from Tomobe

NARITA, Chiba Pref. -- Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa on Feb. 5 flatly denied an allegation that he received money from Tatsuo Tomobe, a House of Councilors member who is under arrest on suspicion of fraud, to ensure Tomobe was elected in the July 1995 Upper House election.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2015

Upper House vote reform falls short

The recent changes to the Upper House districts fall far short of addressing in a meaningful way the disparity in vote values.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2010

Democratic sidebar to U.K. polls

Britain is on the brink of its biggest political upheaval in a century. The general election that takes place this week has become an unofficial referendum on the electoral system itself. Britain's first-past-the-post (FPTP) system discriminates against small parties, wastes votes and encourages politicians...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2019

Eliminate the 'impermissible' gap in vote values

All political parties should work together to explore ways to narrow the disparity in the value of votes within a permissible range.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2014

The skewed value of votes

Lawmakers must set aside their partisan interests and act fast to narrow the wide gap in the value of votes between rural and urban constituencies.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2004

A place for 'judicial positivism'

In a representative democracy, the value of one vote is supposed to be more or less equal. In the 2001 Upper House election, however, one vote in rural districts carried much greater weight than it did in urban districts; in an extreme case, one ballot in Tottori Prefecture was worth 5.06 ballots in...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2022

Japan's opposition parties ponder leadership after election drubbing

Any celebrations of relief for CDP, or success for Nippon Ishin, may be tempered by concerns over who will take over the reins in the years ahead.
A man votes in the Lower House election at a polling station set up at a school  in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Voters head to the polls across Japan in crucial test for ruling coalition

Recent polls have indicated the coalition might lose its majority in the powerful Lower House of parliament for the first time in 15 years.

Longform

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