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On October 28, a meeting of the executive committee of the DPJ Political Reform Promotion Headquarters, chaired by Acting Secretary General Shinji Tarutoko, was held inside the Diet building. Discussions focused on the inter-party talks regarding the electoral system for the House of Representatives, which have already been convened on three occasions.
At the start of the meeting, Secretary General of the Promotion Headquarters, Deputy Secretary General Koriki Jojima stated, “This is in some senses an irregular situation, with the Supreme Court having delivered the verdict that the electoral system, in particular the “disparity in the value of one vote”, is unconstitutional, and discussions regarding redrawing voting districts having been suspended. It is the responsibility of the legislature to restart these discussions. The opposition parties have voiced the opinion that we should discuss this issue as part of discussions on a comprehensive reform of the electoral system itself, but I believe that we cannot let the current unconstitutional nature of the system remain unchecked.” He expressed the intention of enacting legislation during the current Diet session, so that discussions regarding redrawing of electoral districts can be resumed.
The executive committee heard explanations of (1) the structure of the Political Reform Promotion Headquarters, (2) a progress report on the inter-party talks on the electoral system of the House of Representatives, and (3) the 2010 National Census (final figures) from Jojima, Vice Secretary General of the Promotion Headquarters Seiji Osaka, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications respectively.
In consideration of the fact that a variety of proposals had been received from the opposition parties during the inter-party talks, the executive committee confirmed their intention of proceeding with investigating the electoral system itself, including the process by which the current mixed electoral system of single-seat constituencies combined with a regional proportional representation list came into being.
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