Tokyo, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed Friday that the Senate, the upper house of parliament, will establish a special committee to discuss bills to cut the consumption tax. The Senate is expected to establish the committee on Wednesday. “The minimum conditions for beginning deliberations have been met,” Yoshihiko Isozaki, the LDP’s parliamentary affairs head in the Senate, told reporters after a meeting with Yoshitaka Saito, the CDP’s parliamentary affairs chief. The committee will have 40 members, with an LDP lawmaker serving as chair. The ruling and opposition camps will each have 20 members. As the chair typically does not vote, it remains unclear whether the committee will pass the bills. The bills, currently deliberated in the Financial Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, call for lowering the 8 pct consumption tax on food to 1 pct for two years starting in April 2027 and introducing an income-linked benefit program. Five opposition parties and groups in the Lower House agreed to demand Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appear before the Financial Affairs Committee. They confirmed that they would not allow the committee to vote on the bills unless she attends. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
