February 7, 2012
Lawyers, union activists, and citizen group members on February 6 took to the streets in Tokyo and four prefectures in the Tohoku region to collect signatures against the move of the Noda government to cut the number of proportional representation seats in the Lower House by 80 in order to smooth the way for the imposition of a consumption tax hike.
The Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom (JLAF), in front of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, gathered signatures to prevent cuts in the number of proportional representation seats, to abolish the single-seat constituency system, and to implement a drastic reform of the current electoral system in the Diet.
The lawyers appealed to passers-by saying, “What we need is not to cut the number of proportional representation seats, which most accurately reflect the public will, but eliminate the 32 billion yen of government subsidies to political parties and the single-seat constituency system which distorts the voters’ will.”
A 20-year-old student living in Mobara City in Chiba Prefecture, said, “I don’t think it’s good if small parties are excluded from the Diet and only two major parties make up the Diet.”
On the same day, unions and civic groups in Aomori, Miyagi, Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures protested.
In Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, a local association of lawyers and citizen groups opposing cuts in proportional representation seats took part in the signature drive.
A young woman living in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, signed the petition saying, “Many young people today are struggling due to unemployment and other problems. Their voices should be heard in the Diet.”
The Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom (JLAF), in front of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, gathered signatures to prevent cuts in the number of proportional representation seats, to abolish the single-seat constituency system, and to implement a drastic reform of the current electoral system in the Diet.
The lawyers appealed to passers-by saying, “What we need is not to cut the number of proportional representation seats, which most accurately reflect the public will, but eliminate the 32 billion yen of government subsidies to political parties and the single-seat constituency system which distorts the voters’ will.”
A 20-year-old student living in Mobara City in Chiba Prefecture, said, “I don’t think it’s good if small parties are excluded from the Diet and only two major parties make up the Diet.”
On the same day, unions and civic groups in Aomori, Miyagi, Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures protested.
In Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, a local association of lawyers and citizen groups opposing cuts in proportional representation seats took part in the signature drive.
A young woman living in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, signed the petition saying, “Many young people today are struggling due to unemployment and other problems. Their voices should be heard in the Diet.”
