Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)–Six opposition parties in the Senate, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Thursday urged the ruling bloc to set up a special committee to ensure sufficient time for deliberations on a bill to cut the consumption tax on food. Diet affairs chiefs of the six opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and Komeito, held a meeting in the Diet to discuss their response to the upcoming Senate deliberations on the legislation. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration aims to have the Diet enact the legislation during the ongoing session, which is scheduled to end on Dec. 12, to lower the 8 pct consumption tax rate for food items to 1 pct for two years starting in April 2027 as part of efforts to address soaring prices. The ruling camp of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party, however, is four seats short of a majority in the Senate, putting the focus on the Senate vote on the legislation. Questioning on the bill is scheduled to begin in the Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, on Friday. The Takaichi administration aims to secure the legislation’s passage in the Lower House by early November. The three other opposition parties are Sanseito, the Japanese Communist Party and Inochi no To. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
