Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 November 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

Hold general election to raise consumption tax: LDP urges DPJ

“Once a general election is held, we will certainly be able to raise the consumption tax rate, no matter if you win or we win.”

Ibuki Bunmei of the Liberal Democratic Party made this remark at a House of Representatives budget committee meeting on November 11, urging Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko to dissolve the Lower House and hold a general election in order to implement a consumption tax hike.

The LDP lawmaker criticized the Democratic Party of Japan for not endorsing the call for a consumption tax hike in the last election manifesto. He advised the PM that the DPJ must include an endorsement of a consumption tax hike in its election platform and then hold a general election. “We also make the same promise. Then, whichever party wins, Japan's future would be assured,” Ibuki boasted.

The logic of this argument is that if both of the two major parties call for a consumption tax hike, it will be materialized regardless of which party wins in the election. Then, what is the point of dissolving the Lower House and holding the election?

Being unable to differentiate itself from the DPJ in its basic policies, the LDP is not likely to be an attractive option for voters.