TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling coalition and the opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) on Thursday agreed on a plan to cut 31 proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives, Kyodo News reported.
The move has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers, with some saying it would weaken parliament's oversight of the government and is meant to pave the way for revising Japan's pacifist constitution.
According to the report, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), and the DPFP will jointly draft a bill and seek its passage during the current parliamentary session, which runs through mid-December.
Because the three parties together hold a majority in both houses of the Diet, Japan's parliament, the bill is likely to pass.
Six other opposition parties oppose the plan, saying it lacks justification and that cutting proportional representation seats would favor larger parties, Kyodo News said.
A rally against the seat cuts was held in front of the National Diet in Tokyo on Wednesday evening.
Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, suggested the move is intended to sideline forces cautious about constitutional revision and pave the way for amending the pacifist constitution.
Tetsuya Shiokawa, chair of the Japanese Communist Party's Diet affairs committee, noted that according to estimates by the LDP, the plan would increase the LDP and the JIP's combined share of lower house seats by several percentage points.
He said the move would make parliament less representative of public opinion, weaken oversight of the government, and embolden Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration to push through its policies on the strength of its seat advantage.
Japan's House of Representatives is elected through a mixed electoral system that combines both single-seat districts and proportional representation.
Of the current 465 seats in the lower house, 289 are elected from single-seat constituencies and 176 through proportional representation.
In single-seat districts, the candidate with the most votes wins. For proportional representation, voters select a party or political group, and seats are allocated according to vote share across 11 regional blocs nationwide.
The three parties' plan would cut only proportional representation seats. It also includes changes to how proportional representation seats are allocated and would allow multiple parties to compile a joint list of proportional representation candidates. ■