It has already staged votes to approve plans for new assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and further polls on reform of the electoral system and on membership of the single European currency are likely.

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Should Messrs Kawamura and Omura manage to stuff the new assemblies with their supporters in the spring elections, they could help unleash forces of decentralisation in Japan.

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The new parliaments and assemblies set up in Scotland, Wales and (if it is ever able to start work) Northern Ireland have not had time to make their presence felt.

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Auto and light truck production hit a new low in this expansion in July, at 10.2 million assemblies (annual rate).

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Equally controversially, he also intends to seek re-election from Pakistan's sitting national and provincial assemblies, now in their final year, instead of waiting for new elections to these bodies.

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