Far from Regaining Credibility

House of Councillors again failed to secure its credibility from the people in Japan. Liberal Democratic Party, Innovation Party and other small groups passed a bill for reforming electoral districts to adjust value for a vote, which still ignored large difference between urban and rural region. Although the bill will also be approved in House of Representatives, unconstitutional situation of election system for the Councillors will not be removed, leaving a doubt on the people that the lawmakers are still incompetent.

After long internal controversy, LDP submitted the bill to add ten seats in five prefectures and reduce ten from seven prefectures. This bill introduces new concept that an electoral district can be set beyond the border of prefectures for the first time in post-war democracy in Japan. Tottori and Shimane, as well as Tokushima and Kouchi, will be a single district with two seats in House of Councillors from the next election next year.

The biggest problem of this new system is that it makes little difference from the former one. The biggest value of one vote in rural district is three times greater than the smallest one. Supreme Court of Japan has decided that the difference over two times was unconstitutional. But, some lawmakers in LDP were strongly reluctant in merging prefectures, asserting that the Councillors had been representatives of each prefecture.

The opposite parties were more active in reducing the difference. Democratic Party of Japan submitted a bill to reform twenty prefectures into ten electoral districts, which reduces the difference of one vote to less than two times. LDP’s coalition partner, Komeito, joined DPJ to implement voters’ equality under law. But their bills will be dismissed in both Houses.

The fundamental problem is the fact that House of Councillors has not been working as the representatives of each prefecture as LDP lawmakers argue. Deeply affected by party politics, the House has been highly dependent on the conclusion House of Representatives made, without making no independent decision on their bills. If LDP had wanted to preserve traditional role for representation, they needed to reform to give House of Councillors discretional power.

With growing demand of the public to have equal value in each vote, a tendency of lawmakers of insisting on their vested rights was clearly highlighted. People have been realizing that the politicians were privileged people with stable social status, making laws to pose the people further heavy tax, lazy in making voluntary reform for themselves and making arrogant appearance in town meetings. The failure of election reform will take its toll from them.