tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post4261944325803669559..comments2023-10-09T00:45:55.603+09:00Comments on Shisaku: Hiroshima Unconstitutionality Ruling - LinksMTChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04626942240117432624noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-43423378709166659992013-03-27T04:41:50.285+09:002013-03-27T04:41:50.285+09:00Well, if you excluded the representatives of all t...Well, if you excluded the representatives of all the grossly-undersized electorates then the people living there would find their vote of zero value. Which is not actually an improvement. <br /><br />[it strikes me that MMP will correct for disproportionalities arising from grotesque malapportionmeant just as well as it does for the more normal majoritarian single districts. And japan already has proportional seats. If you wanted to fix the underlying problems with minimal change it's hard to think of a better proposal than this one: that this doesn't seem to be a proposal that anyone's making says a lot about how people are prioritising "fixing the underlying problems" and "with minimal change", I guess.]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-25694020653915482302013-03-27T00:15:54.141+09:002013-03-27T00:15:54.141+09:00If it wasn't for Shisaku, I would not have kno...If it wasn't for Shisaku, I would not have known that this was an issue. <br /><br />MFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-76629593956402305282013-03-26T20:05:54.182+09:002013-03-26T20:05:54.182+09:00I wonder if it is ok to draw a salary as an MP if ...I wonder if it is ok to draw a salary as an MP if the election is invalid. We already must assume that the rep has no legitimate status. Is the November deadline to have redone elections or is it to have redrawn the districting? What happens in the meantime? This is much more of a clusterF than it appears to be on the basis of reporting.<br /><br />I suppose there are a number (majority?) of seats where the voter/rep ratio is close to average and thus "legit". Are there sufficient number of them to make reform a reasonable process?<br /><br />So many questions....<br /><br />YYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-39665225148297918532013-03-26T16:08:50.490+09:002013-03-26T16:08:50.490+09:00And now the Okayama High-court has rule the electi...And now the Okayama High-court has rule the election invalid, according <a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130326p2g00m0dm069000c.html" rel="nofollow">to Mainichi</a>. Yay.<br /><br />While I’m quite happy to finally see an election ruled invalid due the voter disparity issue, it is kinda sad and depressing actually, that for one it took so long. Two, that it takes power-lawyers and many High Court and Supreme Court rulings to have the politicians eventually take care of the issue. And three, the extend to which the old-boys networks, the Diet and politicians in general thumb their nose at grass-roots activism and voter concern.<br /><br />I don't have much hope for the plan presented by the Abe-san regime (… intentional choice of words!) to actually go far enough. Philippenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-48966735628323363442013-03-26T15:08:55.709+09:002013-03-26T15:08:55.709+09:00Finally, FINALLY!, a regional court has handed dow...Finally, FINALLY!, a regional court has handed down a ruling on the invalidity of the 2012 election. <br /><br />The question is; will it prompt the government to make adjustments to electoral districts in keeping with the previous ruling of the Supreme Court in 2009? <br /><br />Constitutional lawyers might be buoyed by the fact that such a ruling sets a precedent which can then be cited by the Supreme Court. <br /><br />If the Supreme Court rules the 2012election both unconstitutional and invalid, then the legitimacy of the Abe government will vanish, leading to either another general election or a series of by-elections. <br /><br />Yet in the absence of any bona fide proposal for an equal distribution of vote weight per district, which will need to be approved by the Diet, how on earth will the government run an election campaign without the result of that also being ruled invalid?<br /><br />Justice Ikadatsu has handed the government a final notice. If it truly respects the Constitution and the rule of law, the government will amend, in its entirety, this electoral anomaly. <br /><br />For some reason, I don't think this will be enough to override vested interests in Nagata-cho in keeping the current system unequal. It may take a few more invalidity rulings to ram home the need for change before the issue ends up in front of the Supreme Court again.Gregnoreply@blogger.com