ニュース 2012/11/16 Lower house dissolution: election scheduled for Dec 16 On the afternoon of November 16, the House of Representatives (HR) was dissolved under Article 7 of the Constitution. The Government made the decision to dissolve the HR at the ministerial meeting held in the morning of the same day. In the afternoon, House Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi read out the dissolution edict at the plenary session of the HR and said, “The HR has been dissolved under article 7 of the constitution.” Before the plenary session of the HR, the House of Councillors (HC) plenary session was held in the morning of the same day. During the plenary session, a number of bills were passed and enacted by a majority vote of both the ruling and opposition parties: (1) Special measures for the issuance of government bonds, which are required for the implementation of the fiscal 2012 budget, (2) Correction of the disparity in the value of one vote at both the HR and the HC, (3) Reduction of the number of seats in both the HR and the HC, and (4) Reduction of the annual salaries of Parliamentarians by 20%. Due to the opposition from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and others, a bill regarding the abolishment of the allowance for the speakers and standing committee chairs of both the HR and the HC was not submitted. Toward the reduction of the number of seats, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the LDP and New Komeito held a meeting among the Chairs of the Diet Affairs Committees in the morning of the same day and signed an agreement regarding the reduction of the number of seats in the HR that states “Regarding the reduction of the number of seats in the HR, the DPJ, the LDP and New Komeito will consider a fundamental review of the election system and make any necessary amendments by the end of the next ordinary Diet session.”