Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

Major papers support ‘agreement’ on consumption tax hike

On June 16, the day after the Democratic, the Liberal Democratic, and the Komei parties agreed to double the current consumption tax rate to 10%, major national newspapers in Japan carried editorials which applaud the “agreement”.

These newspapers have encouraged the Noda Cabinet, the ruling DPJ and the opposition LDP to “decide” on a consumption tax hike.

The papers have criticized the government as “indecisive” with a gridlocked Diet since the DPJ came into power in 2009. Their arguments raise no questions in regard to the process or the content of the “decision-making process” made as being unprincipled.

Opinion polls conducted by the major papers found that the majority of the public are opposed to a consumption tax increase. Nevertheless, the papers have encouraged the cabinet and political parties in and out of power to raise the tax rate in defiance of public opinion. Their insistence that everything proceeds smoothly if only a political leader takes a decisive lead will pave the way to a despotic government or the creation of a support system for authoritarian rule.

The cause of a deepening sense of stagnation is that people are still badly off in spite of the change of power from the LDP to the DPJ 3 years ago. The root of people’s suffering lies in the fact that Japan’s politics have been controlled by the Japanese business circles and the U.S. government working in tandem.

The role journalism should play is to question this political arrangement and propose a way out of the present situation.