Japan's PM eyes year-end election in quid-pro-quo deal with opposition (2)

The consensus, however, among political pundits here is that Noda will go ahead with the dissolution of the lower house, though the move was unpopular with some DPJ lawmakers who may find themselves redundant following the next general election.

Political sources have said that Noda is mindful of the fact that there could be imminent defections from the DPJ, putting the party at risk of losing its power in the more powerful lower house. Under Japan's bicameral system of parliament, the opposition bloc control the House of Councilors.

However, Noda's focus seems to be predominantly on the passage of a debt-financing bill for the current fiscal year, and discussions regarding reform of the lower house's electoral system, involving reevaluating the weight of a single vote to correct a current perception of an imbalance in the voting system.

The ruling Democrats propose cutting five single-seat districts as well as 40 seats from the proportional representation constituency to narrow the gap in the value of a vote between heavily and sparsely populated constituencies.

The Liberal Democratic-led opposition bloc, for its part, wishes to see five single-seat districts to be cut before moving to the proportional representation constituency, sources with knowledge of the matter said.