Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has postponed its seat reduction bill until the autumn extraordinary Diet session. Party officials informed the Centrist Reform Alliance Wednesday, abandoning plans to pass it now. This compromise aims to secure passage of other pending legislation, including Imperial House Law amendments.
Hiroshi Kajiyama, chairperson of the LDP’s Diet Affairs Committee, met with CRA counterpart Kazuhiko Shigetoku Wednesday morning. During their meeting, Kajiyama confirmed the LDP would wait for consensus building around the electoral system. Instead, lawmakers plan to revisit the seat reduction bill once census data arrives.
The ruling-opposition council hopes to reach agreement around September, following finalized 2025 census results. However, Kajiyama warned that failure to reach consensus would prompt renewed seat reduction discussions. Under current provisions, proportional representation seats would automatically decrease by 45 without consensus.
Smaller parties have strongly opposed this automatic reduction, since they depend heavily on those seats. Meanwhile, Kajiyama urged swift deliberations on the Imperial House Law amendment during the current session. He also proposed scheduling committee discussions this week to accelerate the amendment’s progress.
Additionally, Shigetoku requested an intensive Budget Committee session featuring Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s attendance. Kajiyama agreed to make efforts accommodating this request from opposition negotiators. Following their meeting, Shigetoku consulted with other opposition parties regarding their overall response strategy.
Opposition leaders indicated willingness to normalize Diet proceedings if guaranteed this intensive session. Notably, deliberations had stalled entirely before resuming Tuesday following House of Councillors negotiations. Consequently, further progress in the lower house could fully restore normal Diet operations.
Separately, Takaichi met Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura Tuesday, agreeing to delay the bill. Yoshimura confirmed that Diet affairs chiefs would continue handling detailed negotiations moving forward. Overall, this postponement reflects broader efforts toward political compromise ahead of July 17.
