LDP Leader Candidates Discuss Wages, Regional Revitalization

Nagoya, Sept. 26 (Jiji Press)–The five candidates in the Oct. 4 leadership election for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party presented their views on wages, regional revitalization and support for the auto industry in a debate in the central city of Nagoya on Friday. Former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, 69, said that the government should lead efforts to raise wages. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, said that smaller companies need support to earn enough to raise wages. Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, promised to raise the unit prices of orders by local governments. To boost local economies, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, proposed establishing a fund worth about 1 trillion yen to revive the shipbuilding industry. Sanae Takaichi, 64, another former economic security minister, emphasized the need to strengthen domestic manufacturing. Motegi expressed his intention to accelerate the development of growth industries in rural areas. To support the auto industry, Takaichi proposed suspending a tax on automobile purchases for a limited time. Koizumi sought to accelerate talks with opposition parties to abolish the add-on gasoline tax promptly. Hayashi touted the government’s efforts to reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs. Kobayashi vowed efforts to prevent smaller companies from being affected by the levies. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]