Tokyo - Japan's ruling coalition faced down an opposition boycott of parliament yesterday, ramming a controversial seat-cutting bill through the Upper House, a move likely to aggravate political turmoil and force early elections.
In the absence of the opposition and ignoring their calls for talks on a compromise, the government won passage of the bill to cut by 20 the number of Lower House seats chosen by proportional representation. The opposition says the cut favours big parties.
