Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

Rank-and-file DPJ lawmakers object to three-party agreement on consumption tax hike

Met with fierce objections, the Democratic Party of Japan on June 18 in its policy research committee meeting failed to gain approval from its lawmakers for an agreement on a consumption tax hike that the party concluded with two key opposition parties behind the closed door.

After the meeting, DPJ policy research committee chair Maehara Seiji told reporters that he will discuss with Koshiishi Azuma, DPJ secretary general, about what to do.

A lawmaker who attended the meeting said that Maehara asked participants to entrust the treatment of the agreement to him because it is related to the party’s policy.

The participants, however, lodged objections by saying, “The party should hold a general meeting of its Dietmembers in both houses since the agreement affects the very basis of the party,” “It is unacceptable that the party avoids calling such a meeting while the Liberal Democratic and the Komei parties already held similar meetings with their representatives.”

According to this lawmaker, the DPJ’s inner opponents of a higher consumption tax rate argued at the meeting that if the DPJ fully accepts the LDP’s original plan to increase the consumption tax rate, it will jeopardize the DPJ’s existence as a political party.

Another opponent criticized party officials as being unreliable because their explanation is totally different from what the LDP and Komei stated.