Japan Press Weekly

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2012 January 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Local papers criticize proposal to eliminate 80 Diet seats

Local newspapers are increasingly voicing the opinion that political parties should reduce the amount of government subsidies they receive and are criticizing the ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s plan to cut 80 proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives.

An editorial of the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun on January 19 stated, “It is hard to agree with a cut in the large number of proportional representation seats. It is only advantageous to the two major parties, the Democratic and the Liberal Democratic parties.” The editorial also pointed out, “An election system should be designed to reflect voters’ will as accurate as possible.”

The editorial proposed to halve the amount of government subsidies to political parties. Citing the fact that every year the total of over 30 billion yen in government subsidies are provided to all political parties, except the Japanese Communist Party, it stated, “Returning the subsidies to the government will be more effective and easier (than reducing Diet seats).”

The Tokyo Shimbun editorial on the same day referred to a simulation showing that if the 80-seat cut in the proportional representation constituencies was applied to the results of the 2009 general election, the number of seats that the Komei Party gained would have been halved, the JCP’s seats would have been reduced by 55%, and 60% of the Your Party’s seats would have been lost. It stressed, “A cut in the annual salary of Dietmembers and government subsidies to political parties should be prioritized, not a cut in the number of proportional seats which would lead to excluding minor parties from appearing on the ballot.”

Hokkaido Shimbun raised concerns regarding whether the public opinion would be represented if 80 seats were eliminated from the proportional representation constituencies. Citing opinions that stated the single-seat constituency election system creates a massive number of wasted votes, it said, “The proportional representation system aims to reflect the diverse opinions among voters. It should be prevented for only major parties to enjoy having a voice in the Diet while minor parties are ignored.”

Annual spending per parliamentarian, including the salary for his/her three state-funded secretaries, amounts to about 70 million yen. The 80 Diet seat cut only contributes to cutting government spending by 5.6 billion yen. Government subsidies to political parties amount to 32 billion yen in tax money every year. If this subsidy system is eliminated, it will be equivalent to reducing the annual state expenditures for 457 Dietmembers.